The Robot Master and the Shiny Noivern
by AuraWielder
Summary: While the shiny Noivern was quite nervous about having a robot Lucario as his Master, what awaited him was the best experience of his life. M rating. Contains scenes of rubber/latex bondage, but no sexual contact. Now a series of one-shots.
1. The Robot Master and the Shiny Noivern

The Robot Master and the Shiny Noivern

(Warning: This story contains some sexual themes and bondage. If this offends you, please avoid reading this. If this is your thing, or even if you are neutral to it, I hope you enjoy the story I have to offer.)

* * *

Things weren't going so great for a Pokémon named Telokey. The shiny Noivern has had little luck in securing a job that could sustain himself. Every single one of them yielded no long-term source of income for him.

The first was his aspirations of becoming a chef. He had applied at many of the cafes around Lumiose City, and one of them finally accepted him. He introduced himself, demonstrated his talents in the culinary craft, and got the job of chef's assistant. All was good and well for a few days, until one day, he was to help the lead chef prepare a premium Kingler dish. The dish was required to be heated up to a high temperature in a steel pot. The chef left, believing Telokey could handle it himself. Unfortunately, after a case of 'wing caught under hot steel pot', the on-fire Telokey desperately tried to put himself out, getting EVERYTHING ELSE on fire as well. It was when the fire alarm went off and the fire department had to put everything out that Telokey knew that he lost the job.

The second was a simple job as a newspaper delivery Pokémon. It was pretty hard to go wrong, and he had a significant advantage over other applicants due to the fact that he could fly to deliver papers quicker. Unfortunately, he lost the job before he could even start due to a RAYQUAZA, of all Pokémon, applying for the job. The Legendary Pokémon was hired on the spot, leaving Telokey wondering if the world just hated him.

And the last was his rigorous attempts at starting up as a belly-dancer teacher, having an intense passion for the art. He was quite the professional himself, putting several well-established belly-dancers to shame. The problem was that interests in belly-dancing was an INCREDIBLY niche market, and the cost of upkeep dramatically outweighed any profit he earned. There were a few interested, but simply not enough Pokémon or humans applied to make up for the cost. Crushed, he ended up having to shut down the class.

Right now, Telokey was just barely paying rent for his apartment with odd jobs here and there. And he wasn't sure how long these odd jobs would even last. It was an uncertain life to live, for sure. But he wouldn't be living with such uncertainty for much longer.

The shiny Noivern had put in an application of sorts for a pairing website. Said pairing website functioned mostly like one of those dating websites, except instead of finding a sweetheart, you found a Master (for a slave applying) or a slave (for a Master applying). The website had the not-so-subtle domain name of . Nevertheless, it was a reputable website, taking safety precautions like any other dating website to meet up in a public place first and have an item for identification.

But previous encounters with possible Masters or Mistresses with B or C rankings didn't go so well for the bat.

His first time was with a female Seviper with a C+ ranking. Telokey had an attraction towards Snake Pokémon, so that was a big plus. And she also enjoyed wrapping her prey in coils like her species is designed to. But the dealbreaker were some... 'reports' he had heard of previous slaves being actually digested over just being swallowed. The Noivern wasn't going to take the risk.

The second time was with a male Arcanine with a B ranking. Interests matched even better compared to the Seviper, both of them having a thing for rubber, bondage, and even belly-dancing. But once again, there was a dealbreaker. The Arcanine turned out to be gay, which wasn't what the Noivern had issues with. What Telokey DID have issues with was that the Arcanine also want his slave to be a sex partner. Despite his taste in fetishes, he wanted no part in any sexual contact with another male. The Arcanine understood his feelings, and the two at least parted on good terms.

But it appears that the third time's the charm, after all. Today, he found his first match with an A+ ranking. An A+ ranking, something pretty rare, meant that this was likely to be a match in bondage heaven. Looking up his profile on the website, it seemed almost too good to be true.

Name: Xavier

Gender: Male

Species: Lucario

Orientation: Straight

Fetish Tastes: Pretty much everything rubber (and rubber articles of clothing), bondage (both strict and mild), gas masks, sensory deprivation, musk scents, ball-gags (preferably large ones), and hypnosis (only if subject is willing to be hypnotized)

Neutral towards: Ropes, tape, miscellaneous gags, chains and cuffs, muscles, and even a few odd interests like inflation and belly-dancing.

Will NEVER do: Watersports, Scat, Breathplay, Any form of sexual contact, or any illegal fetishes.

Telokey looked over the profile in detail once more. Nearly all of this guy's preferences and neutrals were in Telokey's tastes, even having similar disdains. Being open to belly-dancing, even if this Master was more neutral to it, was a big plus. Pretty much the only thing that didn't match up was the bat's preferences of Snake Pokémon, but that's only possible for certain species anyways.

Checking his e-mail, it turns out that the Lucario had already sent him one regarding a meeting between the two of them:

 _To Telokey,_

 _I have seen our A+ ranking on , so we could very likely be a good match as Master and slave. Our profiles match very well in the preference categories with latex, bondage, and our other fetish tastes. Though I have no interest in belly-dancing, I'm very willing to let you get in the role if you so wish. I also have the money and resources to let you be a long-term or permanent slave, should you so desire. In fact, such a relationship would be preferable to me._

 _If you are interested, please e-mail me back so we can discuss a place and time to meet with each other. I do hope things work out well. You're my first A+ ranking, actually._

 _With best regards,_

 _Xavier_

Telokey wasted almost no time with his reply, typing into his computer. This was his first A+ ranking as well? Things were looking good for the shiny Noivern.

 _To Xavier,_

 _I've looked over your profile as well, and it seems like a match made in heaven. I'm willing to meet you. How about we meet at Lumiose Park later today, say around 3:00 pm? I can wear a red scarf for identification. Although, you'll probably notice the shiny Noivern pretty quickly._

He hit send, and expected to hear a reply back in a couple of hours. He was about to leave and get a sandwich for lunch when the ever-so-familiar "You've got mail." message sounded.

"That was fast." The bat muttered. "He must've already been at the computer." He reasoned, opening the e-mail.

 _To Telokey,_

 _Yes, Lumiose Park at 3:00pm will work for me. I shall wear a red scarf for identification as well. I hope to strike up a good relationship with you. See you then._

The Noivern couldn't believe it as he closed his laptop. He might actually have a Master now. This was great for the Noivern, especially since his jobs weren't working out, and his apartment was a little… dingy, to put it nicely. Being a permanent slave to a Master would ensure that he would never have to worry about paying bills, or just scraping by ever again. But of course, he had to meet this Lucario first, and make sure that they worked well together. There was always the chance that things wouldn't work out, but for some reason, Telokey just had a really good feeling about this one…

* * *

Telokey soon found himself in the Lumiose City Park. Being the only shiny Noivern there, he stuck out like a sore thumb. It brought some attention, but it at least made it easier for his potential Master to spot him.

Looking around the large park, there were many Lucarios. Some were wild, others were domesticated. They were a popular species among trainers, after all. Still, there wasn't a single Lucario he could find with the red scarf detailed in the e-mail. After a while of searching, he was about to give up in disappointment when…

"Are you Telokey?" said a voice from behind.

"Yeah, are you the…?" his voice faltered as he saw who was behind him. It was a Lucario, all right. And he was even wearing the red scarf. But he was a mix of shock and nervousness as he realized…

"Y-You're a robot. A robot Lucario." The Noivern stated simply, in disbelief. The robot Lucario, however, rolled his eyes a bit, the digital red iris simply rotated around like a laser light.

"And your point is…?" the robot Lucario replied, replying back with a bit of sarcasm.

Telokey stuttered, unsure about this whole thing now. "I um… I read you were a Lucario, but I didn't know that… well, I'm a little nervous about this whole… I wasn't really expecting that you were…"

"…You're Xavier?" he asked after a pause.

The robot Lucario smiled. "Yep." He said. "Hey, why don't we just stop by the local Sawsbucks first? Just chat for a little bit before we get into anything? I think that'll calm you down."

The Noivern nodded. "All right, then."

* * *

"So, you're the robot that Professor Sycamore built and got all those fancy awards?"

The two were at the local Sawsbucks. Xavier opted for a cup of fresh oil while Telokey simply had a hot chocolate.

Xavier nodded. "Yeah, but I don't like to brag too much. I was the model he built after he achieved his desired results in Mega Evolution. He apparently has some more models he's working on, actually. He's almost done with this Greninja robot model. But I'm getting off the subject. Point is, I don't want to let the fact that I'm a robot intimidate you away from becoming my slave."

Telokey took a sip of his drink. "Yeah. I would actually like to be a long-term slave. I've been really struggling financially, and I can barely support myself. My apartment is more of a rat's nest compared to an actual living area. And I really am interested, don't get me wrong. But if I had to be honest… I'm nervous. I know we had that A+ ranking and all, but I still can't help but feel nervous. It's not like I've tried bondage with a robot before. What would a robot need with a slave, anyways?"

Xavier sipped from his drink. "It seems only fair to answer your question. I… run a bit of a company. One that creates… items that cater to… specific interests in… select markets. And I need someone to help test… these kinds of products."

This didn't go over Telokey's head, whispering in a lower voice. "…A fetish company, Mr. Xavier?"

Xavier nodded. "Although, I think it would not be best to discuss this in public. It's an awkward topic, otherwise. Do you mind if we go to my house?"

Telokey thought about this. It was a bit clearer why the robot desired a slave. He created fetish items to be sold on the market that needed to be tested, though it seemed to be a secret side business that the robot didn't want public if Xavier's actions were any indication. Still, he didn't really know just WHAT kind of items they were. The shiny Noivern considered himself pretty open-minded, but didn't really want to be part of any… extremely lewd items.

But it couldn't hurt to simply go look, right? If there was something that went against his morals, he could just simply leave like with the Arcanine before (or at least negotiate with him).

Telokey nodded. "Alright. I'll come with you."

* * *

Xavier soon led the bat to his house, which also functioned as his laboratory. Stepping inside, Telokey could see that most of the house was made of metal. The staircase, the walls, the ceiling, the floor, most everything was metal except for a couple of things like the bathroom, bedrooms, and a secret laboratory/testing area that Xavier kept tucked away under the house.

"How does this place deal with Electric-types and thunderstorms?" Telokey had to ask.

"Anti-Electric force field." Xavier said. "It also disables the power of any Electric-type that comes in until they leave. And just in case something happens, the metal structure of the house is very non-conductive."

"Interesting. You came up with that idea yourself?"

"Actually, that was Sycamore's idea when this lab was first being set up. After all the testing was done, I was allowed to keep the house for myself."

Telokey picked up a picture taken of Xavier and Professor Sycamore. "You two were pretty close, huh?" he said, smiling softly.

"Oh, we still are." Xavier smiled as well, looking at the picture with the bat. "He's always regarded me as his 'son', of course. He never married though, despite being quite the fetching human. His real passion is the science of Pokémon… and bondage." The robot added at the end.

Telokey's eyes widened. "No way. Professor Sycamore?! You mean THE Professor Sycamore is…?!"

"A bondage enthusiast, yes indeed." Xavier chuckled. "How do I know? Well, I caught him in a bit of self-bondage one day when I was 'young'. Back then, I was still very much in the learning process. It was when he didn't show up for a scheduled appointment at this lab that I left to go check on him. He admitted that he tied himself to his desk chair as his workers were out for the weekend, but the self-bondage went a bit awry."

Telokey could relate. He had practiced a bit of self-bondage, but nothing too unexpected had happened… yet.

Xavier continued. "Eventually, I admitted to him that I thought I was into the same thing, along with latex. He remarked that I probably developed a 'fetish', although he wouldn't have imagined a robot developing one. I chalk that one up to maybe some oddity or quirk during my creation. He did say that he got some sandwich meat stuck in my processing cores during development, but… I dunno. Point is, he knows. It was him that actually helped me test my fetish inventions initially, but he's been busy developing his next model of robot pretty recently and didn't have time to help test, so…"

"That's where I come in, right?" Telokey guessed. "Seems pretty reasonable. You just want someone full-time to test out your inventions."

Xavier nodded. "You got it. The profit I gain from sales is more than enough to supply and house someone full-time as well. So… do you want to start testing? Most of my inventions are latex-based though, to give you a heads-up."

Telokey thought about all of this again. This was sounding more and more appealing by the moment. Being a full-time submissive slave, having a decent Master while sharing some major similar interests such as latex and bondage, no worries about struggling to pay rent to a grouchy landlord… still, he wanted to decide for himself after a trial.

"I'll test one of your inventions. Then I'll see how I feel about you possibly becoming my Master. But I'd say that the odds are pretty good right now."

Xavier smiled. "Glad to hear it. And I think I may just have the perfect invention for you to test…"

* * *

"What… is that?"

Telokey was going to admit it, he was nervous. The machine that Xavier planned to set him up in was pretty intimidating. It appeared to be a small hollow chamber controlled via computer, vertically oriented to strap someone into. Some sort of gas mask was hanging from where his head would go, probably feeding him air or whatever scent Xavier wanted him to breathe. Speakers also seemed to be installed into the gas mask, likely to let Xavier communicate. The most intimidating factor was that the hollow chamber was to descend below the surface and into the underground, where the unknown waited. And it smelled heavily of rubber. Right now, Telokey was dressed up in a latex suit that Xavier fitted him in, waiting to be put in.

"I call it 'The Chamber'."

"Descriptive, huh?" Telokey remarked in a bit of sarcasm. "I see how it works but… where does it lower you into?"

"The ground."

The shiny Noivern rolled his eyes. "So what do you plan to do?"

"Bondage things."

Telokey sighed, a bit tired of the 'Captain Obvious' answers. It was clear Xavier was toying with him. Still… one thing haunted him. He had to ask before he went in for himself.

"You're not going to do anything… rape-ish, right?" The bat said, sweating. He felt bad for asking, but he really did need to know. He was truly nervous about the robot possibly having no limits on what he planned to do, especially considering that he was going to be 100% helpless at his metal hands.

Xavier immediately stopped configuring the computer and looked at the bat with a serious expression on his face. "Telokey. I may be just a robot, but I know right from wrong. And while I am a Master, I'm no sicko. Professor Sycamore has done a good job teaching me about these kinds of things when I first confessed my interest in bondage to him. He told me that to rape is to… it's hard for even me to say. But he told me that doing that kind of… thing is absolutely unforgivable. You take away someone's innocence and dignity that way. It never comes back."

The bat seemed rather surprised with the anti-rape speech. "I… wasn't expecting that from a robot."

"I would probably think the same if I were you. Who'd expect a robot to know anything about that? So let me tell it straight to you. I HARD-CODED that moral into my own protocol. And by hard-coding, I mean so hard-coded that I couldn't break it even if I wanted to. And I sure as hell don't want to."

"What even prompted you to do that?"

Xavier was silent for a while. "One of Sycamore's colleagues had it happen to her. That's why. I learned the kind of pain it causes that day, and I never wanted to be part of it."

The robot sighed. "Telokey, I just want to make sure you know that I have absolutely no intention of harming you in any sort of way. I only want the best for you, even if you decide to not become my slave. I really mean that."

Telokey felt a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders. He didn't feel like he could Xavier. No, he KNEW that he could trust Xavier. With anything. This robot clearly had high priorities for treating any slave submitting to him. And now… Telokey wanted to be part of that.

The Noivern smiled, starting to step into the chamber. "Then count me in, Master."

"Glad to have you aboard… slave." Xavier smiled, helping to finish strapping Telokey into the vertical chamber. "So, is this official? You want to be my slave?"

"Yeah, I'd say that it's pretty official. I definitely want you as my Master." Telokey agreed.

"Then it's official! We are now Master and slave!" Xavier laughed, rubbing the Noivern's head playfully.

Xavier started to strap the rubber gas mask onto Telokey's head. "Now, this gas mask will enable to breathe three special gases that are attached to it. The first is obviously oxygen. The second is a strong scent of rubber condensed into a gas. And the third… well, that's my special little 'arousal' gas I made. Creating it wasn't easy, but I managed to create a mixture that can arouse nearly any Pokémon regardless of gender, sexuality, and species."

Telokey nodded, now unable to speak with the gas mask on. He wondered if he'd be able to tell when this 'arousal' gas hit.

It hit him with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, almost instantly reducing him to lustful moans as he tried to hopelessly squirm in his binds, but to no avail.

"I bet you love that, slave." Xavier chuckled, to which the shiny Noivern nodded ecstatically.

Soon, Telokey felt his body lowering as Xavier pressed a button to lower the chamber, sinking deeper and deeper until the lab completely disappeared from sight. Now, there was only blackness, along with the heavy scent of rubber and the arousal gas to keep him occupied.

"Don't worry, Telokey. I'm still here with you." Xavier said through the speaker, to which his response was lustful moaning. This only got a laugh out of the robot as he continued. "I can tell you're enjoying yourself. Our first test down here will be a pressure test, the second will be a liquid test. After that, I'll bring you back up and personally ask you if you wish to take the final test, which will be optional. First, the rubber walls in front of and behind you will softly squeeze you, and you'll likely feel a bit of rubbing. That's normal. You'll be in that position for approximately 30 minutes starting… now."

The wall in front of Telokey started to move closer to him, and he assumed the wall behind him was doing the same. The bat was not scared, though. Rather, he was incredibly excited for the experience that awaited him.

The walls moving closer and closer until they were squeezing Telokey in between them. Not extremely tightly, but a firm hold that was strangely comfortable. Telokey moaned more when the walls started to rub across his entire body, near his head, arms, legs, and especially his crotch. Combined with the gases, it was so much wonderful pleasure to take in. And this was only the first test!

Unfortunately for Telokey, the 30 minutes seemed to pass by all too fast. The walls rescinded back to their original positions, leaving the Noivern a little disappointed that it was already over. He brightened back up when he remember that there was still more in store, though.

"All right. Now, we're moving onto the second test. This will last the same amount of time as the previous one, for 30 minutes. Here, the liquid below you will rise. It is a liquid form of rubber, very sludgy and thick. Don't panic when it rises above your neck, you are fully sealed into that gas mask and will be able to breathe fine. You'll spend the 30 minutes completely submerged in the sludgy rubber starting… now."

Right on cue, the liquid rubber below him started to rise. With his Master's words though, Telokey wasn't worried. He was once again excited for the experience. The liquid rubber slowly but surely rose. He felt it go from his feet, to his knees, to his lower body, to his chest, and to his neck, all within the span of about 5 minutes. Once it hit his neck though, the liquid rubber rose even slower, teasing the bat. Telokey wasn't even scared of it rising, as he was still breathing normally. If anything, he was getting a little impatient and wanted it to cover his whole body.

But finally, the liquid rubber filled the entire chamber, letting the shiny Noivern see nothing through the sludgy liquid. He tried to squirm a little bit, feeling his body shift slightly through the liquid rubber. It was a very strange, yet very exciting feeling. He rotated his head around slightly, feeling the sludgy rubber moving around his gas mask. Finally, the shiny Noivern relaxed, feeling as though he could stay in here all night. He really wanted to.

But once again, all good things had to come to an end. That same tinge of disappointment hit him as the liquid rubber began to recede. When it fully receded, a few bits and pieces of the sludgy rubber remained on his suit. Telokey actually laughed to himself as he thought about how much fun he had. And to think, he was actually afraid Xavier was going to do something rape-ish. His trust in his Master was stronger than ever as he felt the chamber he was in start to rise. Whatever his Master had planned for the final test, Telokey knew that he wanted it.

As he fully came to the surface, Xavier released the binds and unhooked the gas mask. Telokey almost didn't want to take it off, but eventually did so. He walked up to his Master.

"…That has to be the single best bondage experience that I've ever had. To think that this is just the beginning… that's thrilling. Before, I had some doubts. But now… I want to stay with you."

To Xavier's surprise, the shiny Noivern knelt down on his knees, hands behind his back and head bowed.

"Xavier, I fully pledge my life to you. I want you to be my Master. Please, accept me as your humble slave."

Xavier had to smile. This Noivern was so willing and so clearly trusted him. He knew that he was going to take good care of Telokey. "Stand up." Xavier said.

Telokey immediately obeyed, standing up to his feet. To his surprise, his Master gave him a soft hug, careful not to hug too hard since he was a pretty strong robot.

"I'm glad you trust me. I think this is the start of a great relationship."

Telokey could only hug back and nod in agreement. Eventually, the duo released their hug.

Xavier laughed. "I have a feeling you'll want that final test."

"Yeah. I do. Whatever it is, I'm ready for it. I know I'll love it… even if it'll only last for 30 minutes, I'll make every second count."

The robot smiled. "Then I think you'll be ecstatic to hear that this final test is long-term storage. Essentially, it will combine Tests 1 and 2, but for the duration of a full night. I do need to test the long-term functions."

Telokey was silent for almost a full minute after Xavier stopped talking.

"Telokey? Are you OK? If you don't want to-"

Xavier was interrupted by much submissive begging. "No, no, no, no! I want it! I want it! I want it! Please, please, please, please, please!" he begged rapidly on his hands and knees, not wanting to miss this chance.

"Whoa, OK. I got your point. I'll help strap you back-"

Telokey beat the robot to it, tightening the gas mask onto his head and strapping himself in as much as he can. Within only a few seconds, only a few straps on the mask and chamber remained for Xavier to buckle up before he was ready to be sent back down.

"Holy Arceus, you ARE eager!" Xavier had to laugh, finishing up the rest of the straps. Telokey only nodded in excitement, waiting in anticipation to spend the rest of the night down in the rubber chamber. He smiled as he felt his body being lowered down once again until all he saw was blackness. It was now a familiar and comforting blackness.

Xavier talked through the speakers again. "Now, I believe you know what will happen here. The rubber walls will close in on you and the liquid rubber will fill up the chamber. I believe you'll be fine by yourself."

To that, Telokey nodded, even if Xavier couldn't tell. The walls and sludgy liquid rubber did their thing again, simultaneously this time. Before long, Telokey was comfortably tight between the walls and trying to squirm in the liquid rubber. As the gases were administered to the shiny Noivern and his arousal heightened once more, he knew that this was going to be the beginning of a wonderful Master and slave relationship.

* * *

 _Pokémon © Nintendo / Game Freak_

 _Telokey the Shiny Noivern © Telokey_

 _Xavier the Robotic Lucario © AuraWielder_

 _Story © AuraWielder_

Heh, been quite a while since I worked on a bondage piece. And by a 'while', I mean not since a CYOA I had on dA in February 2015. After stepping away from bondage works for a while due to personal reasons in April 2015, I'm submitting my first bondage piece since February.

Here, this little story explains how Telokey on deviantArt became my slave after well over a year (maybe around 2 years) of knowing each other. But when I say 'slave', I only mean this in the bondage context. Certainly not in the kind of way back in colonial times. This story also goes along with a bondage piece that Telokey commissioned from piqueRAJ on deviantArt. Great artist. You can check my deviantArt gallery or Telokey's deviantArt gallery for the piece. You'll know it when you see it.

EDIT: So yeah... that part about vore being a deal-breaker... not anymore. I'd hate for continuity to clash, so I edited the story to reflect this.


	2. Gone Mobile

Gone Mobile

Author's Note: So, I've decided that I plan to continue this 'Robot Master and Shiny Noivern' series with a collection of various oneshots. Telokey (the writer of this one) and I will alternate between writing them, but I will post all oneshots onto this story on FanFiction as a collection of them in this series. This 'episode' was written by Telokey on deviantArt, so this is his writing, not mine. I only post this here with his permission to continue the series here.

* * *

(This story contains anthropomorphized Pokémon and bondage scenarios. If this offends you, then adios. If not, then continue reading. Enjoy.)

Telokey woke up to the now familiar blissful feeling of muffled senses. No sight, no sound… but as for the rest of his senses, they were experiencing some pretty good stimuli.  
The feel of tight rubber enclosing him. The strong, almost arousing scent of the rubber itself. And lastly, the taste of the rubber ballgag strapped tightly into his maw.  
What's more, there was the wonderful feeling of being upside down that Telokey had always enjoyed.

It had been nearly a month since he'd moved in with his mechanical master, Xavier. A whole month of pleasurable product testing, and just being there to make Xavier happy. It made him feel like a pet. And that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Telokey had since moved out of his old, run down, budget apartment into Xavier's lab, bringing only the essentials. His books, his game systems, the games to go with the systems, his cooking appliances, his family photographs, a plush Zoroark he'd had for quite a while, his extensive supply of exotic and delicious cheeses he'd received from his family for various holidays…  
Ok, so maybe "essentials" was a pretty broad term for Telokey. He was a little sentimental, and there was nothing wrong with that.  
But his couch, the only piece of recreational furniture he'd had, was tossed into the dumpster. He hated that itchy thing, and he'd been more than happy to see it go.

Telokey's musing was cut off by a light, tingling sensation. The rubber that encased him was beginning to vibrate at an incredibly high speed. Too high to be considered pleasurable, but Telokey knew that wasn't the purpose of it.  
The rubber encasing him seemed to liquefy, sliding off the Noivern onto the floor of his room. Looked like his master's newest invention had been a success. A sort of thick latex that would turn to a sort of liquid when the micro-vibrators within it were activated, and would solidify instantly when the vibrations stopped. Telokey would have to make sure and tell Xavier it was a success, though considering he could already tell whenever Telokey woke up through vital signs, chances were he already knew the experiment was a success.

"Telokey. Breakfast." The voice of Xavier called out through the speaker system installed in his lab.

"Omm mm waymph!" Telokey called back, swinging down from the metal bar he slept from. That was the good part of being him. No need for those oversized beds that other non-bat Pokemon needed for sleep.  
Dressed in the casual slave outfit he usually wore when just hanging around the house, consisting of the black latex speedo, arm, and leg sleeves, Telokey made his way to the lab's kitchen.  
His master was already there waiting, his eye projectors already displaying the day's news in front of him.

"Goomd mormnng mampher." Telokey greeted, already making his way over to the griddle to fry some eggs.

"Whoops. Forgot to unlock that for you." Xavier chuckled, pointing one of his fingers at Telokey. There was a small beep, and the electronic lock on the gag released itself, Telokey taking the ball out of his mouth and setting it to the side.

"You know, I don't actually mind the idea of being gagged most of the day. I don't say much anyways." Telokey smiled, smacking his lips a little to restore feeling.

"Oh come on, you have lots of stuff to say. Like that story you told me about why you don't like wearing shoes." Xavier said.  
"And it would start feeling pretty lonely around here if I didn't have someone to hold conversations with."

Telokey's smile broadened a little at the compliment.

Xavier, though unable to smile, was happy to see his slave smile.  
"So? How'd the new rubber work out last night?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. That stuff fit me like a glove. A real tight glove." Telokey said, thinking pleasantly back to the experience. This sleeping sealed in rubber thing had been a real help with adjusting his usually nocturnal sleep schedule to a daylight one. A schedule he was adjusting just for his master.

"Too bad we're going to have to hold off on any more product testing for the day. I've got to start making preparations for the trip." Xavier said absent mindedly.

Telokey momentarily stopped his preparing breakfast, turning to Xavier.  
"Uh… what trip?" Telokey asked.

"The one I told you about exactly one week, three days, thirty five minutes ago. Seriously, you organics and your forgetful brains are really a pain sometimes." Xavier said with a chuckle.  
"I'm going to Sinnoh for a day to present some of the products I've completed at an invention convention."  
Xavier seemed a little sad though.  
"But… I'm afraid I won't be able to bring you along to this one."

Telokey looked offput by this news.  
"But why? You brought me along to some of the other conventions." Telokey pointed out.

"That's because those were fetish conventions. You didn't have to be some big business executive to get into one of those. This one though… they won't let just anyone in. Believe me, I tried to find some way I could take you. But the plane is booked enough as it is, and even if I did book you on another flight, I can't guarantee we'd be in the same hotel. And being a shiny Noivern, I'd really like to keep you somewhere I know you'll be safe from anyone that might decide to try and nab a rare find like you."

"So… here?" Telokey guessed with a sigh.

"Yeah, here. I know, it's disappointing, but it's the best option. Besides. I'll only be a day."

Telokey, a little let down, got back to making breakfast.  
"Why do you even need to go to this convention? Aren't you strictly fetish gear?" He asked.

"For the most part, yes. But you'd be surprised how versatile some of my stuff is. One of my sensory deprivation suits is going to be at the con, and it's going to be marketed as a stress relief suit. Some people that are stressed often find that getting sealed up in something that takes away their senses helps with relaxation. I like to broaden my market wherever I can. And who knows, it might just get people interested in my other stuff." Xavier said, one of his LED eyes flickering in a wink.  
"More customers for me, more money for us, more people enjoying my stuff. Everyone's happy."

Except Telokey right at that moment. Even though he'd only gone on two trips with his master, both of them had been the best experiences of his life. And now Xavier was going to the Sinnoh region, someplace he'd always wanted to visit, and here he'd be just twiddling his thumbs.

Xavier could tell that Telokey was upset by this fact. It would be the first time he'd be leaving his slave alone. There had to be something he could do to…

Xavier continued to process his options, running into dead end after dead end. Not even ingesting the eggs Telokey had fixed helped him in his processing.

"Would you like me to go ahead and pack your stuff for the trip, master?" Telokey offered as he took care of the dishes, licking the egg off his own lips.

"Yes please." Xavier nodded.  
If only he had a second body, then he could be in two places at once…  
Xavier froze, his processors finding a solution.  
Of course, it was brilliant! He had most of his lab already wired for this sort of thing, but he'd never actually gotten around to trying it out. And this dilemma presented the perfect opportunity.

"Telokey. Change of plans. Go ahead and go change into something more suited for public." Xavier said to the Noivern. If he could smirk, he would have.  
"I need to pick up a few things before I head out tomorrow."

Telokey raised an eyebrow.  
"What would you even need? You're a robot. It's not like you have to have toothpaste or soap."

"Oh, this stuff isn't for me. It's for you."

Telokey, dressed in his favorite trench coat and a pair of jeans over a black rubber suit, followed Xavier into the local Lumiose Best Buy.

"Ok, so we're in an electronics store… OH! Are you buying me some new game to keep me entertained while you're away?" Telokey guessed, having been trying to guess what exactly his master was planning to buy that was meant for him.

"Nope. Good guess, but no." Xavier affirmed.  
"Why don't you go ahead and go browse around. I don't want to ruin the surprise after all."

Telokey shrugged, turning and wandering off.

Xavier moved off to the appropriate aisle to find the items he needed. And sure enough, there they were.  
Plug adapters.  
But not just any plug adapters. These, designed for people who were away on vacation, could be controlled by a free app from a smartphone. Just plug a device into it, and that device was set up to be controlled by phone. Except in Xavier's case, these would be controlled by him alone. He didn't need a smartphone.  
Xavier, having calculated just how many he would need, grabbed the adapters from their rack on the shelf, stowing them away in a hand basket. Once that was done, Xavier took his selection to the checkout, bagging them so Telokey wouldn't see what had been purchased.

"Alright slave, I'm ready." Xavier sent out at a frequency only Telokey could hear. His big, Noivern ears could hear at a surprisingly high frequency after all.

Telokey, having heard the summons, met up with Xavier at the store exit.  
"Oh, did you already check out?" Telokey asked.

"Yep. I'm ready to… no." Xavier said, seeing why Telokey had asked that.  
A Fox Amiibo was clutched in his claws.

"Oh come on. I don't have this one."

"You promised me you were off the Amiibo craze."

"… master, it takes a lot more than a promise to get off the Amiibo craze."

Five minutes later, Xavier and Telokey were walking home, the robot Lucario with his adapters, and Telokey with a Fox Amiibo.

Despite the assurance of some surprise, Telokey wasn't as jolly as he usually was for the remainder of the day.

"Come on Telokey. One days is all. Besides, it's not like you're going to be missing anything exciting. I'm not even going to be demonstrating any of the stuff that might be considered fetish gear. "

"I know…" Telokey said glumly, currently in his master's room helping him pack anything he might need.  
"I just wish that I could go with you. It's going to be a long twenty four hours without anything to do."

"Hey, you can always work on your dancing. And you told me yourself you're pretty good with selfbondage." Xavier said encouragingly.  
"And when I get back, I'll make sure you're properly rewarded."

"Thanks." Telokey said, forcing a smile to reassure his master that he'd be ok. He'd be disappointed, sure, but Telokey would manage.

"You know what… how about tonight, I let you sleep in the rubber room?"

Telokey's ears shot up, his tail beginning to wag just a little like an excited puppy.  
"You mean it?"

Xavier chuckled at his slave's excitedness.  
"You bet I do. Go ahead and do whatever you need to, then get the pit set up. I'll be down there in a little bit to help you get settled in."

Telokey was gone, rushing up to his room.

Xavier smiled inwardly to himself, thinking about the preparations he'd need to make. The plug adapters were just one thing he needed to do before the trip. He had a lot of modifications to make around the lab with the tech he had on hand. And he had to do all of this while Telokey was down in the rubber room. After all, he wanted his favorite Noivern to be surprised tomorrow morning.

The sound of Telokey's footsteps on the basement level stairs indicated that he was already heading down to the rubber room. Xavier made note of what he'd packed so far before heading down to meet him.

Telokey was already leaned against the wall near the rubber pit with his Zoroark plush clutched in his wings and was dressed, oddly enough, in a tight rubber suit. Normally he'd go with the rubber speedo and rubber stocking-like garments for sleep.  
"Why are you wearing that? I thought you complained about it being too tight for sleep?"

"Yeah, but I know how much you like me to wear it." Telokey reasoned with a smile.

"Always willing to please." Xavier said with a chuckle.  
"Alright, you know the drill. Wings wrapped around you, mouth open."

Telokey did as he was told, allowing Xavier to put a comfortably sized ballgag in his mouth, the electronic lock beeping at it locked behind his head. Now only Xavier's own signal could unlock it.  
Xavier followed up the restriction with a variation of a common rubber straitjacket, this one designed to more keep Telokey's wings pinned in their wrapped position than keep his arms around himself at his side. It also featured the electronic clasps that could only be unlocked by radio signal.  
Xavier had Telokey stand on the entrance to the pit, and with the bleep of a command signal, the metal platform lowered downward, Telokey going with it until he was squeezed on all sides by the padded rubber lining of the pit.

"Whoops. Looks like you forgot something." Xavier said, nudging the plush Zoroark down with Telokey.

"Thmmks!" Telokey called up, snuggling into a comfortable position. He may not have been upside down, but enclosed like he was, he could've slept through the loudest storm ever.

"Goodnight Telokey." Xavier said, leaving his Noivern slave to fall asleep.

Xavier returned to his room, grabbing one of his auxiliary power packs from his closet and hooking it up to himself. After all, he wasn't going to be able to recharge tonight. He had a lot of work to do before he left on his trip.

"Well… time to get to work."

~~~~~  
The Next morning…

Telokey awoke with a yawn past his gag, blinking his eyes. His plush Zoroark had ended up settling just under his chin, making a nice pillow for his upright vertical sleeping.  
But then the remembrance of what today was hit him, and his pep diminished slightly.  
"Hey, come on. It's just one day. One full day of you being here alone while your master is off in a region you've always wanted to visit wowing people with his technolo… I really suck at cheering myself up. How do stay so happy then? Eh, not important." Telokey thought to himself.  
He waited a couple of minutes for his alert brainwaves to register with Xavier so his master would release him from the pit.  
But after five minutes… nothing.

"Mmphr?" Telokey called quietly. Then louder.  
"MMMPHR!" He called out, but his gag couple with the insulating effect of the rubber pit made sure this his calls wouldn't be heard out of the basement.  
And so, Telokey waited. And waited. And just for a change of pace, he waited some more…

After what felt like an hour of waiting though, the pit released its occupant, the metal platform pushing Telokey out.  
But for some odd reason… Xavier wasn't at the controls. And as far as Telokey knew, this device couldn't be controlled wirelessly. A few seconds later, Telokey's ballgag unlocked, as did the straitjacket.

"Uh, master? You here?" Telokey called out.  
No response. And that was unusual, since Xavier usually always responded to Telokey if he called.  
He walked up the stairs from the basement level, calling out again. Still no response.  
"He must have already left…" Telokey sighed.  
Well, he'd best get started on trying to pass the time he'd be spending alone here.  
Telokey walked to the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast, but saw the Xavier had left him a note, as well as something else, on the fridge.  
Curious, Telokey walked over and pulled the piece of paper from the fridge.

"Put the collar on. Video message waiting in the development lab." Was all it said.

Telokey looked to see that the other item taped to the fridge was a pretty high tech looking collar. Though Telokey never had any objections to such things, he'd yet to receive a collar from his master before now. Why now of all times?  
Telokey shrugged, buckling it around his neck. A pokeball print nametag engraved with "Telokey" jingled from it, making the Noivern smile. How nice.  
Remembering the second half of the note, Telokey made his way into the development lab. It was a little emptier than usual, what with Xavier having taken some of the big stuff with him when he left. A simple hologram projector rested on the lab's table, a sticky note reading "Listen" stuck to it.  
Curious as to what all this was about, Telokey approached the projector and pressed the play button  
Immediately, a hologram of Xavier sprung to life.

"Good morning Telokey. If you're listening to this, then I've already left. I tried to wake you up just to say goodbye before I did, but considering that was at around five this morning, chances are you were asleep."

Telokey vaguely remembered hearing his master's voice, but had assumed that to just be part of his dream.

"Anyways, you probably already put on the collar I left for you in the kitchen. If not, then go ahead and do it. I can wait." The hologram said. Telokey of course had already put it on, but the message still waited about two minutes before continuing.  
"Got it on? Good. Because that's going to stay on the entire time I'm away." Xavier said.

Telokey's hands strayed to the back, and just as he expected, the clasp on the back was just like with his gag. It could only be unlocked by signal.

"Now, let me explain what all I've done. While I'm mobile in Sinnoh, I still expect you to follow all the rules and do all the chores you usually do. And even though I'm one region away, I've made a few modifications that'll make it seem like I'm right there with you."

Telokey raised an eyebrow at that. How would he have been able to do that?

"Remember when we went to Best Buy yesterday? Well, I bought up a bunch of special plug adapters, and last night I went around and hooked them up to anything I might have needed to. Mainly a few bondage machines as well as some of our appliances. I've left a schedule for the day in the report bracket in the lab, and I expect you to stick to it like I was there. Because I sort of am." Xavier chuckled.

Telokey was having mixed feelings about this. Though he was disappointed about being left behind, he had sort of planned a lazy day of nothing but gaming, experimenting with recipes, and maybe trying to make a viral YouTube video.

"Go ahead and grab the schedule, and I'll go over it with you."

The message paused again, giving Telokey a chance to retrieve the printed schedule.

 _9:00 – Release from pit_

9:15 – Prepare and Eat Breakfast.

10:00 – Report to auto scrub for morning cleaning.

10:30 – Tidy up around the lab please ^^.

12:00 – Short Bondage session in device of your choosing controlled by yours truly all the way from Sinnoh.

1:00 – Prepare and Eat Lunch.

2:00 – Free time.

5:00 – Practice your dancing. (Your class has a performance coming up)

6:00 – Go enjoy a guided "walk" through Lumiose Park

7:30 – Video Chat with me if you want. If not, then use this time for more free time.

8:30 – Prepare and Eat Dinner (I know how late you usually eat, so that's why dinner is this far back on the list.

9:30 – Turn in for the night

(If there's any time left over after you finish one of your chores/meals/etc., then feel free to use it for more free time)

Telokey looked at the schedule, not sure what to make of it. At least it explained why he hadn't been released from the rubber pit the second he woke up. It was programmed to release him at 9:00. Xavier had pretty much automated the entire house. What would happen if he failed to do any of the stuff on the schedule though?

"Anyways, I'll try to keep things interesting for you. I can control a few things directly from my internal smart processor after all. Anyways, have fun. I'll be back before you know it."  
And with that, the message ended.

Telokey stood there for a few seconds, processing everything he'd heard.  
"So… my master went through all this trouble just so he could dom me wirelessly?" Telokey mused to himself.  
"That's… so cool!"

The Noivern was already getting excited at the prospect. Even the auto scrub, Telokey's least favorite of Xavier's inventions, didn't sound too bad. Maybe being left alone wouldn't be too bad after all?

"And the excitement has passed…" Telokey muttered, looking at the auto scrub. He'd finished breakfast, so he had gone onto the next item on the list. The worst one.  
The auto scrub was basically a cylindrical pod lined with brushes. Telokey was supposed to strip, step in, and insert his hands into two holes in the top of the pod. The hand holes would tighten around his claws, holding him up while the brushes would spin around the interior of the pod while a roller brush at the very bottom scrubbed his feet. And every time he'd used it, it had reduced him to a hysterical mess of tears and laughs. It was better as a tickle torture machine than something to quickly clean a slave. And Xavier had devoted half an hour to this? It had always taken only about eight minutes.  
"Why couldn't master have just gotten a normal shower installed?"  
Maybe he could just skip it? His master probably wouldn't even know. How could he? Unless he was linked into surveillance cameras around the lab as well…  
"Nah." Telokey said, turning to leave.  
"It's not like he could have gotten to linking into everything overnigh…"

Telokey was cut off by the firm grip of something on his shoulder. He let out a panicked screech, spinning around to see… the auto scrub had arms!?

"Uh… hi." Telokey said to the machine sheepishly. As if in response, the front of it swung open. The meaning behind that was simple. Get in.  
But Telokey wasn't planning on going so willingly.  
"Alright, fine. You win." Telokey said resignedly, stepping towards the machine… before pivoting on his foot and making a break for the exit. Of course, whether the machine was being controlled by Xavier or not, it had expected that move, and grabbed onto Telokey's tail., beginning to reel him in.  
Telokey struggled to break free from the grip, but the added arms the machine had been given allowed it to keep a firm grip on Telokey's tail. Once he was in range to the other arms, Telokey found himself quickly stripped of his rubber gear and sealed inside the machine.

"Oh come on! I don't need to use this thing! There's a flower shop a couple blocks down I could just lend a hose from!" Telokey bargained, hoping that if Xavier was listening somehow, that he'd listen. But that bargain went unfounded, as the brushes lightly touching Telokey's sides began to rotate around him, dragging their bristles across the dragon bat's sensitive scales. Even the roller at Telokey's feet was already spinning up, eliciting high pitched screeches of laughter from the Noivern as he thrashed about. Soon the shower and soap dispensers activated, ensuring the Noivern would be squealy clean in no time.  
But little did Telokey know, Xavier had observed Telokey's attempted escape, and so rather than the eight or so minutes it might have taken, he'd decided to kick that up to the full thirty minutes. Of course, if the machine began to prove possibly harmful to his slave in any way, he'd shut it down.

Telokey could only buck and screech with laughter as the torturous cleaning continued. Even after the expected time had finished up, the tickled Pokemon still didn't get his relief.

He tried to demand he be let out, but the plea instead came out along the lines of "SCREE HE HE HE!"  
Each bristle was an attack on the Noivern's sensitive body, tears of laughter mixed with the water from the auto scrub falling to the drain at the bottom, where Telokey's fee' claws were receiving equal torture. He of course tried to raise his feet up from the rollers, but that just left his inner thighs open to the brush column spinning around him, and he'd take getting his feet tickled over his thighs any day.

After what felt like 2 hours but was really only thirty minutes, the machine finally began to wind down. Telokey, worn out from the extended cleaning, was panting by the time he was finally released . Stepping out from the machine, which held out a towel for him with one of its mechanical arms, Telokey turned on it.  
"I did NOT enjoy that, just so you know." He said.

Two of the mechanical arms on the pod crossed in front of itself crossly.

"~Sigh~… sorry, master. I know, I shouldn't have tried to run." Telokey apologized.  
To emphasize the point, Telokey knelt down in front of the pod, which gave him a light pat on the head before shutting down.

Telokey chuckled to himself. He'd just been given a pat on the head by an automated bath pod. His life had gone from boring to weird in such a short amount of time, all thanks to his master. And he was very thankful for the fact he had been willing to take him in when he'd finally hit rock…  
"Wait, what was next on the schedule?" Telokey pondered. He walked over to list, picking it up off one of the tables.  
"Dangit. Cleaning." He grumbled to himself. He turned back to the inactive pod.  
"So, you had time to automate the auto scrub but not the vacuum or Swiffer duster?" Telokey asked the machine, crossing his arms. But of course, nothing.  
"Of course…"  
Telokey trudged out of the room, grabbing his rubber gear as he went. He would definitely bring that discrepancy up when he finally got around to video chatting his master.

Telokey, redressed in his earlier attire, finally finished cleaning up the lab.  
"So… much… surface area…" He groaned to himself, his back a little sore from being hunched over. What's more, he was a good half hour into the time that was supposed to be meant for his lunch break.  
"Well, guess I'll just have time for a sandwich."  
Telokey walked to the kitchen, stowing the cleaning supplies in a storage closet beforehand.  
Approaching the fridge, Telokey pressed the only visible button on it.  
"Provolone cheese." Telokey spoke out.  
A small compartment on the front popped open, the requested cheese popping into it from the fridge's storage. Telokey removed the ingredient before turning back to the fridge, requesting two more types of cheese followed by butter. Nothing like a good grilled cheese sandwich.  
But before Telokey could even begin making the sandwich, there was a small thud from the fridge as another ingredient fell into the retrieval compartment. Funny. Maybe the voice recognition had messed up. But Telokey hadn't even said anything…  
Telokey skeptically approached the fridge, seeing that it had provided a small plastic squeeze bottle that was filled with some kind of orange sauce. Stuck to the bottle was a sticky note, which read "Whipped this up last night. It goes good with almost everything."

Telokey smiled at Xavier's kindness, taking the bottle from the compartment. He popped the cap off it and squeezed a small amount of the sauce onto one of his purple claws, tentatively licking it off.  
Telokey's knees almost buckled. That stuff was delicious! Just what had he used to make this? Telokey didn't care, adding it to the pile of ingredients, but not before taking another small lick of it. He would definitely have to get the recipe from Xavier when he got back.

Telokey got his grilled cheese to a near perfect state In only seven minutes flat, a generous pouring of the special sauce on his plate or dipping. If it had been good by itself, then it was near heavenly with the sauce. Telokey was usually one for savoring food, but he ravenously scarfed down this sandwich. It was just too delicious.  
With a content sigh, Telokey scooted the now spotless plate away from him, laying back in his seat. He patted his bare stomach, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He'd have to try that stuff on some other foods as soon as possible. Like on whatever he was planning on doing for dinner tonight.  
Telokey pulled the schedule over towards him, looking to see what was up next. And what he saw made him smile to himself. A short, one hour bondage session with his master, who'd be controlling whatever machine Telokey chose all the way from Sinnoh.  
And Telokey had a pretty good idea as to what machine he wanted to pick.

"How… nnngg… is this thing… hurk… so heavy!" Telokey gasped as he dragged the large piece of bondage gear out of storage.  
The piece in question was a massive, rubber replica of a Substitute. The green skin of the pseudo Pokemon glinted in the low light, its slit eyes looking expectantly at Telokey for him to hurry up and plug it in.  
Telokey dropped the large replica down with a grunt, taking the power cord and plugging it into the wireless plug adapter already screwed into the wall socket in the rubber room. No doubt Xavier would have already detected that it was up and running. And once he got himself sealed up inside, whatever happened next would be entirely up to his…  
Telokey's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden hot flash. His head suddenly felt a little clouded, and his body felt like he was out in the summer weather of his home in Hoenn, arguably the hottest of the regions. But Telokey brushed the feeling off, already working himself into the large rubber costume. It was more designed to keep the wearer immobile so the built in tech, such as heating coils, massagers, and vibrators, could work.  
Telokey got himself sealed up inside the suit. He really hoped he hadn't messed up anything, as he didn't want to get stuck inside this thing for the remainder of Xavier's trip.

"Hello, slave." A familiar voice said. Telokey had almost forgotten the suit came equipped with speakers for hypnosis.

"Master!" Telokey exclaimed happily at the familiar voice of the robotic Lucario Xavier.  
"How's the convention going?"

"Just great. I've already got a few investors interested in the company, as well as some manufacturing companies that want to help me mass produce some non-fetish stuff. Here's hoping I eventually can get someone to help mass produce all my products." Xavier informed.  
"So, how are things going up there?"

"Great so far." Telokey answered.  
"Though did you really think giving the auto scrub arms was necessary?"

"Since you did try to skip out on your morning scrub, yes." Xavier said, sounding a little cross.

"Heh…" Telokey chuckled sheepishly.  
"I didn't think you'd really care. Besides, you know how much I hate that thing."

"That thing is the most advanced in sanitation machines in all of Kalos, slave. You're going to live a long life with those scales always shining so long as you keep using it." Xavier lectured.  
"I only have your best interests in mind."

"I know… but could you at least make it so that the brushes don't tickle so mumphch." Telokey said, only for the suit to dispense a ballgag right into his talking mouth.

"I'll take that into consideration." Xavier said coyly.  
"Now, let's see what options we've got here. Electro stimulation, heavy groping, temperature increase or decrease… we'll start by turning up the heat."

There was a small click as the suit began to increase its own temperature, though not to the point that Telokey would be in danger of a heatstroke (something very unlikely to happen due to his resistance against heat) or that the suit would start to soften and liquefy.

"Mmmm…" Telokey groaned. This coupled with the hot flash he'd gotten earlier was already causing a sweat to build.

"So, I'm guessing you tried that sauce I left you on whatever you had for lunch, right?" Xavier asked, seemingly making idle chatter.

"Mm hm." Telokey nodded, giving his head a small shake to dislodge some beads of sweat from the fur hanging over his weak eye.

"Good." Xavier said slyly.  
"Want to know what my secret ingredient is?"

"Whmph?" Telokey asked.

"Oh, just a little arousal compound I whipped together. It's actually pretty nutritious for organic males."

Telokey's eyes widened at this. He'd fallen for this trick, AGAIN!?  
Xavier had once done the same thing with Telokey's toothpaste, ensuring that when he was bound up for the night, he was awake for a while trying to contend with arousal. And sealed into this suit like he was, his only source of relief for this arousal was going to be through his master.

"Now… who's my little rubber gimp?" Xavier said. Telokey could practically picture Xavier smirking. If he could smirk that is.

"Mmm." Telokey answered, though he knew in his mind that wasn't enough to get what he wanted. Xavier just loved to play games.

"That's right. You are." Xavier said.  
He must have activated the massagers, because the next thing Telokey knew, he was feeling heavy, invasive groping all over his body. It was especially pleasurable on the Noivern's bare chest and back, due to his having been hunched over a mop while he cleaned the lab floors earlier.

Telokey moaned into his gag as the groping moved down to just below his stomach, though it didn't stay there for long. Xavier must have been in a really playful mood today.

"Cmm ommn!" Telokey grumbled.

"Hey, you brought this on yourself with that trying to run away from the auto scrubber. It has feelings too, you know."

Telokey couldn't tell if his master was serious or not about that. He could already feel his arousal starting to grow even more, the heat inside the suit nearly tripling. Telokey wrinkled his nose a little, as the small space was already starting to fill up a little with his own musk.

"And last but not least, a few electric jolts."

Telokey yelped in surprise as he felt the shock of the suit on his rear. But it only continued to shock him randomly as time went on, driving Telokey mad with lust for some release.

"I really wish I could be there with you. Hearing these moans through my own internal sound processors just isn't the same." Xavier said, earning loud moans as a response from his slave. Telokey was squirming more desperately now as he tried to get even the slightest stimulation to help get him the pleasure he wanted

"You reeeeally want some release, don't you?" Xavier taunted.  
"Well, I guess you're deserving of it. On one condition. You have to wear that one supertight suit for the rest of the time I'm away."

"Ymmph! Lll dmm impht!" Telokey agreed. If that was the only catch to his being allowed to go all the way, then he'd be more than happy for that.

"Alright. I'll turn everthing on full blast in three, two, one…"

Telokey groaned as he came to. He couldn't help but smile, as if recalling a pleasant memory. And this pleasant memory was incredibly recent.

"Whew, you're awake." Xavier's voice sighed.  
"I got your vitals and it didn't look like you'd suffered a stroke or anything, but I was still a little worried."

Telokey found that the suit had loosened up around him, and the suit was pleasantly cool.  
"What happened?" Telokey asked, finding that the ballgag in his mouth had been removed.

"I may have, just a tad bit… overloaded the pleasure cells in your brain." Xavier admitted sheepishly.  
"I guess that compound I fed you made you a bit more sensitive to pleasure than I thought."

"How long was I even out for?" Telokey asked.

"Not too long. About half an hour. Speaking of which, it's free time for you." Xavier said.  
"I've actually got to get going now. Sycamore and I are scheduled to present one of my brainwashing helmets as an addiction curing helmet."

Telokey, now fully awake, got himself out of the unsealed suit.  
"I know exactly what I'm going to use this time for. A nap." Telokey said to the suit.  
"I still feel exhausted from that thing. You know what electrical shocks do to me."

"But your little yelps are just so adorable. How could I resist?" Xavier responded with a laugh.  
"But if a nap's what you need, then you get yourself one. And if you start feeling weak, then call me. I don't care what I'm in the middle of; I'm going to answer any call from you." Xavier said in a reassuring tone.

"Thanks." Telokey said back with a smile lighting his face.  
"See you in a few hours for the video chat."

The suit's power supply went silent, indicating that Xavier had released control of it.

"And what better place to take a nap than in here?" Telokey said aloud to himself.  
He chose a simple enough padded latex bed, opting out of the restraints on it. He just wanted to relax for now.  
He retrieved his favorite Zoroark plush from beside the rubber pit hatch, hugging it to him as he cuddled up and went to sleep.

The worst feeling in the world for Telokey was waking up, a little sore from his struggles in both the auto scrub and the substisuit, (A name that came to Telokey's exhausted mind as he awoke) and remembering what he had next on his schedule.

"Blaaaaaaaagh…" Telokey groaned upon realization that now, he had to practice his dancing.  
Normally, he very much enjoyed it. He may not be the founder of the class, something he'd tried and failed to do, but he was still pretty good at it, and even had his first stage performance coming up. But right now, dancing was the last thing on his mind.  
"Just wanna lay here a few more minutes…"  
Of course his master would have none of that. Without warning, the bed Telokey had chosen to lay in tilted to an angle, dumping him onto the latex coated floor.  
"Alright, alright. You win." Telokey said, standing up.  
"I'll go practice."

The Noivern trudge up to his room, stripping off his latex gear into simple sweatpants. The outfit he'd ordered was on backorder, so for now, this was all he had for practicing.

But after ten minutes of practice, Telokey no longer felt like a zombie. He was back to his usual peppy self by the time the practice was over, feeling nice and loose.  
A good thing too, since his next item on the list was his nightly walk.

"Nothing like a relaxing walk through the park before dinner." Telokey thought. Of course all the other times he'd gone on a walk there had been with his master, but he'd make do by himself this time.  
But as Telokey made to dress in some casual outdoors clothes, there was a thud at his door.  
Telokey, thinking that the lab had been broken into, spun around in alarm, baring his fangs.

"Just so you know, I know the move Dragon Pulse!" Telokey shouted, hoping to dissuade whoever it might be.  
But instead of answering, there was just another thud. Then another. Was whatever was out there… knocking?

Telokey slowly crept towards his room door, grasping the handle, slowly turning it, then yanking the door open to reveal.

"Scree!?" Telokey yelped in surprise as a boxy robot the size of a microwave rolled into his room, the Noivern falling backwards onto his floor. The robot rolled past him, taking the center of the room before stopping.

Telokey, looking at it with a rapidly beating heart, finally found some words.  
"Master? What the heck?" He exclaimed.  
"Where'd this thing come from? What's it even for?"

The small robot was clearly not mounted with any means of conveying audio, as one of the sides, which had a small LED screen on it, lit up as text scrolled across it.

"Attach the leash to your collar." Was all it said.  
Telokey looked at the robot quizzically, only seeing the screen and other metal sides. Where was this leash it was referring to?  
Telokey's mental question was answered a second later when the end of a leash was launched out the same side as the screen, hitting Telokey's nose.

"Ow!" He exclaimed, holding his nose.  
"Watch where you shoot that thing!"

The LED screen only displayed "Sorry" in response.

Telokey, one hand on his nose, picked up the leash end, clipping it to his collar.  
The screen lit up in a smiley emoji, followed by more text.  
"Put on the following outfit." It read.  
"Rubber suit/ extra tight variant. Handcuffs."

Telokey waited for the screen to display what he should wear over the suit, but that was all that came up on screen.  
"You want me to walk around in public wearing just that?" Telokey asked, arms crossed.

More text came up.  
"Come on. It's night. No one will see you. ; )" It read.

"Good point…" Telokey mused. In fact, the idea excited him a little. He'd always just worn the suit under his usual clothing when he went out in public with his master, but now his status as a rubber slave would be out for anyone and everyone to see.  
"Alright. I'll do it." Telokey finally agreed, his adventurous side taking over.

Another smiley emoji popped up on screen at Telokey's acceptance, getting a smile out of Telokey as well.  
Telokey approached his closet, opening it up. His casual clothes were on one side while all his latex fetish gear lined the other side. It was from this side Telokey grabbed a black rubber suit of the make Xavier wanted him to.  
Telokey already felt his excitement growing as he stripped off the sweats, pulling the form fitting suit up around him. But what he hadn't expected was as he drew the zipper up the back of the suit, a small little clip Telokey had missed on the back of the collar locked onto the zipper's pull tab, essentially locking him into the suit.

"You're just really enjoying this whole wireless thing, aren't you?" Telokey asked the box bot.

"^^" was its response.

After cuffing his hands behind his back with a pair of electronic signal cuffs, Telokey stepped back out of the closet, looking himself over in his full body mirror. The suit did a great job of emphasizing his masculine features.  
But Telokey didn't have time to admire himself as he felt a tug on his leash. The box bot was already moving.  
"Now who's impatient?" Telokey said to it before he was practically dragged from his room. Just how strong was this thing? Or better yet, how heavy was it?  
The robot led Telokey out of his room, to the lab's lobby, and out onto the Lumiose city streets.  
Telokey glanced up and down the street, but the only person about at this time was a female Swoobat anthro that winked and blew a kiss at the kinky Noivern.  
Telokey blushed, turning and following the robot as it led him to the park.

"When did you build this thing?" Telokey asked it, walking alongside it to read the screen.

"Couple of months ago. I just never had any use for it." Was the response.  
"Until now."

The robot eventually got around to leading Telokey into the park. But before it even got in all the way, it stopped.

"Now what?" Telokey asked it, looking at the screen for an answer.

"How fast can you run?" It read.

"I don't know. Fast enough. Why do you…?  
Telokey's eyes widened in realization seconds before the robot zoomed off down the park path. Telokey set off at a run, trying to stop it from getting too far ahead. Telokey had already seen that the robot was more than capable of giving him a good tug if it needed, and with his hands cuffed behind him, falling would prove pretty painful.

"See? Fast!" Telokey laughed, the Noivern managing to keep up with the robot. It was surprisingly fast for its weight….  
Telokey only passed a few more park goers during his run, though the most he got was a wolf whistle from a Mightyena who obviously approved of the situation.  
But after fifteen minutes of this, the box bot guided Telokey to the other hand of the park.

"Enjoy?" The robot's text screen asked.

"Actually… yeah." Telokey smiled, panting a little.  
"That was pretty fun. And exciting." Telokey responded.  
"But I don't remember the schedule saying anything about a RUN through Lumiose Park."

The text screen had a response for that though.  
"If you look at the schedule, you'll see walk was in quotations XD."

Telokey deadpanned at that.  
"You're feeling pretty smug. I can tell."

"Yep." The screen responded.  
"But we've still got forty five minutes left of this, and I feel ready for a few more runs through the park. Maybe we could even have that Mightyena come along on our jog. They sure looked interested in us."

And so the robot set off back into the park, pulling Telokey with it before he had time to protest.

Telokey let out a sigh as he slumped down into the chair in front of his PC, lazily starting up Skype as he called his master. His body, devoid of any clothing, was shining with sweat from his run. It had been a while since he'd gone through something so rigorous, and he just wanted to cool off now.  
After a few seconds, the Skype request was answered. Xavier's metal face popped up onscreen, the hotel room he was staying in making up the background.

"Hello master." Telokey greeted.

"Hello Telokey. Glad to finally see your face again. And wow, look at that scale shine. No doubt the work of my auto scrub. You're welcome." Xavier said proudly.

"My opinion on that thing still hasn't changed. Even if it does improve my appearance a little." Telokey said, glancing down at himself to see that his scales did look shinier than usual. And that was saying something since he was already a shiny.  
"So, did everything go ok at the convention?"

"Better than ok. I already told you about the investors and the companies willing to mass produce my stuff, right? Well guess who's going to be getting even more money for research? That's right, this guy." Xavier brayed.

"Congratulations master." Telokey smiled.  
"I can't wait to see what you do with that money."

"Oh, he'll do amazing things with it, I'm sure." A voice said offscreen.

Suddenly, a human head popped into view.  
"Hello there. I don't think we've been introduced. My name is…"

Telokey just let out a yelp, covering his body with his wings.  
"You didn't say there was a human there!" He exclaimed.

"Hey. This human happens to be my creator." Xavier scolded.  
"Besides, he's not one of those humans that shames lack of clothing on Pokemon. Besides, all he can see is your stomach and up."

Telokey slowly uncovered himself.  
"Sorry. Force of habit."

"It's perfectly fine. I have an Alakazam assistant that prefers to go all natural." The human said.  
"Sorry, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Professor Sycamore, Kalos's resident feral Pokemon professor as well as Xavier's creator."

"THE Professor Sycamore?" Telokey said, blushing at his earlier outburst.  
"Sorry sir. I didn't know…"

"It's perfectly fine, young Noivern." Sycamore Said.  
"You must be Telokey. Xavier has told me a lot about you."

"Don't worry, I haven't told him anything too personal." Xavier reassured.

"Anyways, I'd love to stay and talk, but the flight back to Kalos leaves quite early, and unlike Xavier here, I need some sleep. Goodnight, Mr. Telokey. I'll have to have you to one of the cafés so we can talk more once I return."

And with that, Professor Sycamore disappeared offscreen.

"Your creator and the greatest professor in Kalos was In the room, and you didn't tell me? I'm not wearing anything for Arceus' sake. I know there isn't much for him to see, but you know how humans can get when they see one of us walking around in public with no clothes." Telokey said.

"Oh come on, he's a Pokemon professor. It's not like he'd have seen anything he hadn't seen before." Xavier laughed.

"Not funny…" Telokey muttered.

"You do realize I can amplify any sound to an audible level, right? That's why you shouldn't try whispering around me." Xavier said smugly.  
"Anyways… how are you feeling? Rested up from that jog yet?"

Telokey cocked his head at the question.  
"Yeah, I guess so. That run wasn't too draining on me. Why do you ask?"

"Because I've got a little something planned for tonight, if you're up for it."

Telokey waited for an explanation to what it was he was being asked if he was ready for.  
"Soooo… what is it?" Telokey finally asked after Xavier remained completely motionless.

"First, you've got to tell me if you're up for it or not. Then I'll say what it is."  
Telokey could easily make out the smugness in Xavier's voice.

"Well how do you expect me to decide when you won't tell me what it is?"

"That's the fun of it. So come on, give me an answer. Yes or no? You pick no, then you get to go to sleep, no catch at all, but then you'll never know what I had planned. You say yes, then you get to experience the fun idea I've got planned."

Xavier knew Telokey well. He knew that his slave's curiosity would get the better of him when his choices were presented like that.

"Is it… going to be enjoyable?" Telokey asked.

"Of course." Xavier responded.

"FOR ME! I meant for me." Telokey quickly threw in, but Xavier had already answered.

"Sorry, only one question. And you already used it up." Xavier laughed.  
"So, what'll it be, slave? You have about… thirty seconds to decide before I take the offer back. Thrity, twenty nine, twenty…"

"Alright, you win! I'll do whatever you have planned!" Telokey conceded. His curiosity got the better of him after all, and he'd wanted to experience whatever Xavier had planned.

Xavier seemed pleased by the answer.  
"Very good. Now, go to my research lab and go to that storage locker in the corner farthest from the door. I'll unlock it for you right… now. Inside, you'll find a suit and helmet. Put it on, then go find somewhere comfortable to roost like you're about getting ready to go to sleep. Then you'll get to have some fun."

Xavier snapped his metallic fingers and the webcam connection was cut. Telokey stood from his own chair, wondering just what was going to happen to him? He remembered one time Xavier had done this exact same thing before, and Telokey had been naïve enough to accept the offer. The result, he got a full body coating of liquid latex that he had to keep for an entire day, relying on his master for help with anything he might need. Though the experience the coating had given him had been enjoyable to some degree, the being forced to keep it on for the day hadn't been as enjoyable. At least the gas mask he'd been wearing had been compatible for eating…

Telokey, snapping out of his thoughts, proceeded down to the lab. It was just as it should be, the auto scrub looking a lot more harmless when inactive.  
The locker Xavier had indicated was now unlocked, the door slightly ajar. He obviously had unlocked it wirelessly, a fact Telokey found a little unsettling. Just what couldn't he do wirelessly now?  
Telokey opened up the locker, seeing that true to Xavier's word, there was a suit and helmet inside. But while both had a rubber coating, the suit looked a lot more high end than the average rubber suit. It looked as if it even had some rubber coated wires running over the surface…

"When did he make this thing?" Telokey wondered, reaching in and lifting it out. It was a lot lighter than it looked…  
Shrugging, Telokey went about putting it on. It wasn't as tight as some of the other suits his master sometimes had him wear, but it wasn't all loose and baggy either. It was a comfortable middle between the two.  
Telokey slipped it up until it was fit snuggly over his body. Next came the helmet, which looked like something a biker might wear. Telokey put that on as well, buckling it into place. Trapped his large ears a little, but it seemed to have a little space at the top for them.  
Once he was geared up, Telokey followed the last step given to him by his master and lay down on a flat surface, this surface being one of the lab tables Telokey would often find himself on when his master was developing new gear. They were comfortable enough, and would certainly serve Telokey well for the night.  
"Alright…" Telokey muttered aloud, wondering if his master was listening.  
"I've got the suit and helmet on, and I'm laying down. What next?"

As soon as Telokey uttered the last word of his question, the suit locked up, forcing Telokey into the basic anatomical position used in some medical books. Legs slightly apart, along with arms a few inches from his sides and palms facing upward.

"This suit can move?" Telokey exclaimed.  
"What else can it do?"

As if answering his question, the suit forced Telokey… to black out.

Telokey looked around himself in confusion. One minute, he'd been laying on the lab table, and the next minute he was here in this black space.  
"Hello? Master? I know we've tried extreme sensory deprivation before, but this is ridiculous."

"Oh, that's not what this is for."

Telokey jumped in surprise as his master's voice echoed around him, seeming to come from everywhere at once.

"This, my slave, is the latest in virtual reality technology."

Telokey's eyes sparkled in amazement.  
"You mean…"

"Yep. Using this thing, I can let you live out whatever fantasy you desire. Buuut… we're not going to do that tonight."

Telokey shut his mouth, about to shout out he wanted to be dominated by a trio of female Seviper.  
"Then… what are we going to do?" He asked tentatively.

"Well, I'm not going to do anything but watch. You on the other hand are going to play a classic game of…"

The black space around Telokey suddenly took on some substance, blue walls forming around Telokey in a massive maze.

"Pac Man!" Xavier finished, the classic Pac man jingle playing shortly afterward.

Telokey just deadpanned though.

"… Pac Man." He stated bluntly.  
"You have a machine capable of making the most unrealistic dreams and desires a reality, and you're making me play a life size version of Pac Man?"

"Well… it's Pac Man in the mechanics. Get the dots, avoid the ghosts, you know. But here's the twist. If you get hit by a ghost, you'll spend a twenty minute time period in a different bondage position, feeling aroused with nothing you can do about it." Xavier's voice said.

"If you get hit by the red ghost, you'll get completely mummified in rubber with the feeling of hands groping your body for the twenty minutes. If you get hit by the pink one, then you'll be tied up in a pretty exposed position like a spread eagle with the same feeling of hands rubbing you for the twenty minutes. If you get hit by the blue one, and I put this one in especially for you, then a chain will attach itself to your collar and you'll have to give the ghost one of your signature dances for the twenty minutes. And if you get hit by the orange one, then you'll be tied up in a hogtie and get tickled for the twenty minutes. And this game will keep going until I return home tomorrow, which'll be at about 12:00 in the afternoon."

Telokey took in all the information, silent.  
"… why do I have to dance for the blue one?" Telokey finally asked.

"I don't know. I had run out of ideas, so I did something I thought you'd like." Xavier said.

"I'd much rather dance for the pink than the blue one." Telokey complained.

"Alright, fine. I'll switch the catch effects around." Xavier said. Telokey wagered the request had earned him an eye roll from his master.  
"Anyways, have fun. And don't worry about sleep. Your body just thinks that this is a very vivid dream, so you'll still be getting plenty of rest."

"Glad to know." Telokey said.  
"Oh, what happens if I get one of the fruits?"

"Then you have to eat it. Quickly." Xavier said.  
"Duh."

The first round was about to begin, floating text appearing in front of Telokey's face that read "Telokey Start"

"Well, that's my cue. I'm low on power, so I'm going to have to leave you now to recharge. Goodnight slave, and have fun."

And with that, Xavier cut the connection.

"Oh, I'll have fun alright." Telokey smiled. He had a feeling he was going to get caught a lot by the ghosts tonight.  
And he did.

"Telokey?"

"Nnnngh…"

"Teloookeeey."

"Mm…"

"Telokey!"

That last shout, coupled with the deactivation of the VR suit and helmet, caused Telokey to jolt upwards, the Noivern shouting out the word "STRAWBERRY!" for no apparent reason.

"Master? Was that you?" Telokey asked, his head looking around, though his vision was impaired by the helmet."

"Yes Telokey, it's me. I'm back." The robotic Lucario, who was standing a foot away from the lab table Telokey was resting on, his digital eyes currently displaying the kind of eyes one who is smiling might have.  
But Xavier was unprepared for Telokey's tearing the helmet off and lunging towards his master in a bear hug.

"Master! You're back!" The Noivern shouted with joy, his tail flicking back and forth rapidly.

"Whoa, Telokey. It was only a day." Xavier laughed at his excited slave.  
"And I wasn't technically gone."

"Well, to me you were. And I'm just happy you're back home." Telokey said, lightening up on the hug.  
"As your slave, I like to be near you whenever I can."

Xavier pet his Noivern's slave head, chuckling heartily.  
"So, how many times did the ghosts get you in that little game I programmed?"

Telokey blushed.  
"Uh… I lost count after thirteen." Telokey said sheepishly.  
"And I couldn't for the life of me get that pink one to get me. It was always the red one…"

"That's because the red one is the only one that chases you." Xavier said.  
"But hey, I bet you enjoyed yourself."

"You have no idea." Telokey responded.  
The Noivern finally released his metallic master.

"Well, since I'm back, how about I treat you to something nice. How about a movie?"

"That sounds great." Telokey nodded eagerly.  
"I… don't really know what's out right now… but I'll find something."

"And after that, Professor Sycamore wants to meet you personally. He's always interested in shiny Pokemon, and you being so closely affiliated with me is sure to be bonus points."

Telokey nodded, walking past his master to go get dressed for the theatre. But a small part of him, so small that even he might not have known about it, was wondering when Xavier was planning to go on another trip? This wireless experience had been one heck of a fun time.

* * *

Pokémon (c) Nintendo / Game Freak


	3. New Family Members

New Family Members

* * *

"But… but… you can't kick me out. Please."

Those were the words of a timid, shy, and weak Blaziken. He begged his caretaker to let him stay a little longer, to find some sort of family.

The Audino sighed. "I'm sorry, Ian. I really am. But you turn 18 in a week, and… Kalos law states that you can't be in foster care at that age."

Ian sighed. He knew what that meant. He'd have to live out on the streets. But he didn't have the strength for that. He didn't have any strength, actually.

Ian knew he was different from others of his species at a young age. While other Torchics were using Scratch and Ember straight out of the egg, he was on life support for four days after hatching. Compared to humans, Pokémon remember much more of their childhood at younger ages.

And Ian's childhood wasn't pretty.

* * *

"You're a worthless little shit! I gave birth to you! I wanted a battler and I get a wuss!"

Those were harsh words from Ian's mother, of all Pokémon. Someone that was supposed to raise and nurture their children, and always love them.

Ian's mother didn't love him. As a young Torchic, he was easily hurt by the harsh words. He knew he was supposed to be strong like his mother, but he was born exceptionally weak. Compared to his battler and mother Blaziken, Ian couldn't even learn Scratch at 2 years of age.

Ian's father was different, hugging the young Torchic as he helped his son weather the harsh words of his mother. His father was a Nidoking, and both of them created an egg that would hatch Ian. But when Ian was born and revealed to be very weak, his parents' relationship turned rocky. Ian's father didn't care if his son was a weak battler. He loved his son for who he was, and that would never change.

His father spoke up. "Jezebel, I don't think this is called for. It's not fair for you to insult him for how he was born."

Ian's mother, now known as Jezebel, snapped at the Nidoking. "Are you kidding me, Gabriel?! You're defending this?! You are defending our son… who's a little weakling?! Tell me a good reason why I shouldn't just toss him out into the street and feed him to the wolves!"

Gabriel sighed. "Are you really this shallow? To throw away the son that we conceived together, just because he's weak? Because I won't let you do that."

Jezebel scoffed. "I can't believe you're defending such a little stupid wuss. Come on, Gabriel. We'll just toss him out and try again. No harm, no foul."

Gabriel couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Toss him… toss him OUT?! That's like tossing your own son out because he was gay or because he simply couldn't battle. You know, like what you're doing! If I knew you were going to be this shallow over how our son was born, I would've never married you."

Jezebel cried, trying to build up sympathy. "Do you know what it's like to be the only woman among all of my friends to give birth to a weakling, Gabriel? Who can't even use a damn Scratch attack? It's pathetic."

The Nidoking didn't buy this sympathy act for one minute. "You want to know what's more pathetic? Kicking your own kid out because they aren't exactly what you wanted!"

Finally, Jezebel scowled. "It's me or the kid. Take your pick."

Gabriel was silent for a moment as he looked down to Ian. Seeing the tears in his eyes, the Nidoking picked him up and wiped them away.

"I'll be out of the house in the morning." he said coldly to his 'wife', going to his room to prepare packing.

* * *

Gabriel wanted the divorce to be as clean, quick, and painless as possible. He had really hoped that he would never get caught in a divorce, but he couldn't change Jezebel's cold attitude towards Ian.

Gabriel sighed, having his lawyer, along with Jezebel's, write down the terms of the divorce agreement. The Nidoking would get full custody of Ian, since Jezebel wanted nothing to do with him. Anything that Gabriel owned before marriage was his, and the same for Jezebel. Jezebel, however, would keep the house, and Gabriel planned to move into an apartment.

Eventually, the agreement was complete. The two were officially divorced.

"I'm sorry things had to be this way, Jezebel." Gabriel sighed.

Jezebel huffed. "Things wouldn't have to be this way and we'd all be happy if you just ditched the damn kid."

Gabriel left silently after that, unable to face her now without breaking into a rage. It was best that he took his leave.

He sighed as he went back to his car, where Ian was. He had been moved out of the house and into his apartment for a few months now. As stressful as the divorce was, he was glad that the worst of it was over now. He stepped into the passenger seat, with Ian safely secured in the back.

Gabriel was about to start the car when he heard Ian speak up.

"Daddy?"

The Nidoking put on a soft smile for his son. "What is it, kiddo?"

"Why…" Ian, the young Torchic he was, started to cry softly again. "Why does Mommy not like me?"

A horrible pain of dread hit the Nidoking. He had a feeling this question would come up, but he didn't know if he was ready to answer it.

Gabriel had to think for a bit before he answered. "Don't think that it's your fault, Ian. You had nothing to do with this. Your mother had… wanted a lot from you. She wanted you to be a strong battler. But it's not your fault that you were born unable to fight. Don't you ever think that this is your fault, Ian."

Ian was silent for a bit. "…Dad? Mom… scares me. Do… do I have to see her again?"

The Nidoking sighed. "No, son. You won't ever have to."

* * *

Two years had passed by since then. Ian actually enjoyed living with his Dad, even if he hadn't evolved yet at 4 years old. The two loved each other very much, and Jezebel was nothing more than a distant memory. The two even vacationed at Lumiose City once, and had a picture with the two standing in front of the Lumiose Tower, smiling for the camera.

But of course, since his Dad had to work, Gabriel would leave him at a daycare until his workday was done. Gabriel worked the 9-to-5, always working hard so he could support himself and his son. Life was pretty good for the two of them.

But all good things had to come to an end.

Gabriel was high on a construction tower about 10 stories up, his job being a worker there. It was a dangerous job sometimes, but he was always careful and took the necessary precautions. He was standing precariously on a thin platform, bringing up a piece of large, thick metal to be used as plating for the building. He had his safety harness on, so that if he slipped, he would be caught.

It all happened so fast. He had leaned out to start lifting up the sheet metal. He had leaned out too much, causing him to slip over the railing meant to protect him from a fall. Gabriel wasn't worried at first, thinking the harness would catch him.

It didn't.

When the platform shifted, the sheet of metal came down, and it was sharp enough to slice a supporting wire on the harness. It was all a freak accident that simply shouldn't have happened. As Gabriel continued to fall, he saw the snapped harness and fully knew that he was about to die.

He was worried. But not about himself. He was scared about Ian. He thought about him. How would he continue to grow? Who would love him? Who would help him with his disabilities? Who would care for him?

Gabriel cried, moments away from impact. "Ian… forgive m-"

A sickening and horrifying CRACK stopped Gabriel from completing his sentence. His skull was split open on the pavement below, instantly killing him. Screams of panic rang out in the air.

"Oh my god!"

"Someone call an ambulance!"

* * *

The daycare woman, a Blissey, received a call later that day. Her eyes opened in shock.

"He… are you sure he's… oh. OK. I… I see. Does Ian have any other caretakers?"

"…"

"His mother… but she doesn't want him? Because he's disabled? But he's the nicest thing! What kind of selfish bitch would…" the Blissey stopped, berating herself for cursing in a room with children. "…So, he'll go to the orphanage, then?"

"…"

"The funeral is in three days? …All right, then. I… guess I'll have to take him to the orphanage after the daycare closes for the day…"

Blissey sighed, hanging up. She was really not looking forward to this. She saw Ian trying to kick a ball in the playroom, though unable to move it much because of his weakness. Despite that, it was a cute sight to see.

She sighed again. She had to word this to Ian just right. As much as she didn't want to tell Ian, he couldn't be left in the dark forever. Somebody had to tell him, and she figured it would be better if she did so.

"Ian… sweetie. Could you come over here for a moment?" she asked politely, motioning to behind her desk.

Ian smiled, coming over. "Of course, Ms. Storm."

The Blissey smiled, though a bit solemnly. "You know you can just call me Kate. But… Ian. I… need to tell you something. Something very important. You… may not like hearing this, but you need to know."

Ian was a bit worried for a moment. "Um… OK?"

Kate sighed. She might as well get this out, but she had to use the right words. "Ian… your father was in an accident at work. He fell from a very high height and he… he passed away."

Instead of crying, Ian reacted with confusion. "Um… what does 'passed away' mean?"

" _Oh sweet Arceus…"_ Kate thought to herself. She sighed before speaking again. "It… it means… that he…"

One of the mean kids, a Pancham, was dropping in on the conversation. Being a bit of a bully to most of the kids, he wanted to make Ian cry.

"It means he's never coming back for you. Ever." He laughed, in clear earshot of Kate and Ian.

Kate snapped, standing up and glaring at the Pancham. "LUCIUS!" she scolded. "Go to the corner and take a time-out for the rest of the day! NOW!"

The Pancham ran off, but the time-out was worth it just to hear Ian cry.

"I… I'm sorry about that, Ian." Kate sighed.

"He… Daddy's never coming back? He left me?" Ian said, tears coming from his eyes.

Kate shook her head. "No. It's not because he left you. You know he loved you very much. But…" Kate finally spat it out, having to make it very clear. "He's… dead."

The full impact hit Ian. His father was gone. After crying for a bit, Ian thought about the other parent he had. His mother.

"…Does that mean I have to go back to Mommy? She hates me…" Ian sobbed.

Kate hugged the little Torchic. "No. You aren't going back to her."

"But… where do I go, then?"

Kate sighed to herself again. She was good with kids, but not when she had to deal with grave subject matter like this.

"You'll… you'll be going to an orphanage. You'll be put up for adoption. But don't you worry. I'm sure that you'll have a family that will love you for who you are. I know that you'll get someone who will love you despite your disabilities. I absolutely know it."

Ian was a bit calmer now, with only the occasional tear coming out. "OK. I'll come with you."

* * *

The day seemed to pass by excruciatingly slowly for the young Torchic. He never went to an 'orphanage' before, and he was scared for what awaited him. The hours slowly ticked by, but eventually, everyone else's parents soon picked up their children near closing time. Except for Ian's father, of course. But now, it was just Kate and Ian.

Kate picked up the young Torchic, hugging him gently as to not hurt him too much because of his weakness. Ian's sobs were very soft now, as the Blissey locked the daycare behind her and went out to her car.

* * *

The drive to the orphanage was quiet. There wasn't much Kate could say to the young Torchic.

" _The poor boy doesn't deserve to be in a mess like this…"_ she thought to herself. If Kate had the resources, she'd probably adopt him herself. Unfortunately, she already had two children with a wonderful Togekiss husband, and she knew that she couldn't manage a third one.

The Blissey's words still rang in Ian's head. Was she right? Would someone really love him, despite his weakness? Would he really find a family to be happy with?

Ian would find out his answers eventually when the two of them arrived at the Kalos Orphanage, located right in Lumiose City. He observed a couple, an adult male and female Lucario, walking out with a baby Totodile in the father's arms. He cuddled and held the Totodile closely, keeping it warm as it slept, with a smile on his face.

" _Could that ever happen to me?"_ Ian thought, going in with the Blissey.

* * *

Things started off well enough at the orphanage. Ian got the chance to know Ms. Heather Thorndale, an Audino who ran and managed the orphanage. And she did a good job of it, making sure that Ian and the other kids were well cared for. He was actually pretty happy, even making friends with a Froakie who loved to explore the world and nature around him. And at first, no one at the orphanage really minded Ian's disabilities of being unable to fight.

At first.

About a year after he arrived, when Ian was 5, a Gible was introduced to the orphanage. He had come from a wealthy family with his parents dying in a plane crash when he was 3. Any sympathy Ian might have felt for the Gible vanished almost instantly when he tried to befriend him.

Ian walked up to the Gible, attempting to make some small talk as the two were on the playground. "Hey. I'm Ian. What's your name?"

The Gible scoffed. "Normally, I don't give my name to peasants, but I'll make an exception. I'm Gregorio Manfred the 3rd. Heir to a legacy from my parents."

"…Oh." Ian said.

"…But I guess I can amuse you for a bit. How about a battle?"

Ian stuttered a bit. "U-Uh, um, I'm not really good at…"

Gregorio interrupted him by launching his first move, indicated by the Gible going into an angry frenzy, steaming mad and leaping towards Ian.

The Gible had used Outrage. OUTRAGE. At age TWO. As that move couldn't be learned by him until later in life, his parents must've bred him with such a powerful move.

Of course, none of that mattered to Ian as he was sobbing again, trying desperately to get away.

"Please! Stop it!" Ian pleaded, starting to bleed.

"Come on! Why don't you fight back?!" Gregorio yelled, still in his frenzy.

"P-Please! S-Stop! I-I can't take it!" Ian started to beg, trying to run away.

"What a wuss! Come on! Take it like a real Pokémon and attack me back!"

"PLEASE! DON'T!"

Gregorio was stopped completely in his tracks, now fallen down as he was hit by another attack. But this one came from Ms. Thorndale, now in her Mega Audino form, having fired off one powerful Dazzling Gleam. The other kids actually stopped what they were doing, looking at the Mega Audino in awe of her power.

"GREGORIO MANFRED! COME OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!" Heather called for him, incredibly angry with him.

"Uh-oh…" he said, scared as he slowly walked over to her, who had deactivated her Mega Evolution.

"Go to your room." She ordered. "We will talk later."

Gregorio fled in fear to his room, absolutely mortified. Heather walked over carefully to Ian, who was still on the ground bleeding. He was crying again, but only softly so he didn't look like a wimp. She picked him up cautiously, using her main form's Regenerator ability to help heal some of Ian's wounds.

"I… I couldn't stop him…" Ian cried, still trying not to look like a wuss.

Heather carefully walked inside with him, taking him to his room so he could lay down and rest.

"I-I tried my best, Ms. Heather. But… but I couldn't attack back at all. I-I couldn't…"

"Don't worry, Ian." She reassured. "You did nothing wrong. Gregorio is going to be in a lot of trouble later for what he did."

"But he's right." Ian sighed. "I am a wuss."

Soon enough, a familiar Froakie hopped in, worried sick over what happened. "Ian! Are you OK? I saw what that Gible was doing, but I was on the other end of the playground and by the time I got over to you-"

"Don't worry about it, Luther. It's not your job to break up fights, but I'm glad you were concerned over your friend. I'm going to make some berry juice for Ian, do you mind staying here with him?"

"I'd be happy to stay with him, Ms. Thorndale." He said, saluting the Audino.

The Audino chuckled. "Please. Just call me Heather." She said, walking out to leave the Torchic and Froakie be.

Ian sighed. "I can't believe I couldn't fight back."

Luther carefully hugged Ian. "Ian, it's not your fault. Gregorio shouldn't have done something like that in the first place, even if you could fight back. And an Outrage?! No one in the orphanage could've stood up to that!"

"Well, except Ms. Heather of course." Ian laughed.

Luther smiled. "That is true. I hope I can grow up to be as strong as her one day."

"Hey, at least you have something to aim for. I've only got 'the weakest Pokémon ever' title to aim for."

"Come on, don't be like that. Look at it this way, you could be a Luvdisc."

Ian got a good laugh out of that. "I suppose you are right. Thanks, Luther."

Luther was a really great pal for Ian. Probably the first 'real' friend he had. Even if his friend was a weak Pokémon, Luther didn't care. He just wanted to be friends with someone so nice and kind. The two hoped to be friends as long as they lived.

* * *

Two years later…

At age 7, the unexpected happened. Luther had already evolved into a Frogadier with Ian still as a Torchic. But one day when he woke up, he felt… different. He didn't know how to put it, but 'different' was the only word he could think of to describe it.

Until he looked at his sides.

"Claws? What are those… doing… on…"

He stopped at a realization. Torchics don't have claws. His eyes widened, he dashed to a mirror to confirm if this was real or if he was imagining things.

It was indeed very real. His eyes were now more narrow slits, allowing for sharper visions. His beak had grown slightly longer, and the feathers on his head had turned orange. His feet were slightly larger, having claws on them. And his hands… he actually had hands now, finding it bizarre to actually move them.

A wide, giant smile was on Ian's face. He was a Combusken now! But did that mean… could he be stronger now?

"This is so amazing!" he said, looking over himself. He dashed into the breakfast room, where some of the other kids were getting their food. He soon found sight of his familiar friend Luther, now a Frogadier. "Luther, Luther! You'll never believe what happened!"

Luther's back was turned, talking to Ian casually. "Hey Ian, what's got you so… whoa."

Luther turned around to discover that his little friend Ian wasn't so 'little' anymore. He increased in height as a Combusken, now around Luther's own height. He recovered a bit from his shock to congratulate Ian.

"Ian! I can't believe it! This is amazing! You're a Combusken!" Luther said, jumping up and down in excitement, hugging him. "Soon enough, you'll be a Blaziken and I'll be a Greninja!"

"And someday, when we're outta here, I'll tear down the both of you."

The two turned around at the remark, knowing exactly who that was.

"So… nice going, wuss. Didn't know you had it in you to even evolve." Gregorio said, now a Gabite.

Ian wasn't going to take Gregorio so seriously now. He had proven himself to be a jerk to all of the other children at the orphanage. His stuck-up attitude also caused significant problems with people looking into adopting him. If he didn't change his snobbish attitude, Ian could see Gregorio never getting adopted.

In fact, Ian smirked. "Well, I guess you were wrong."

"Care to challenge me on the playground again? Come on, I freaking dare you! I'll show you that I'm the boss around here!"

Ian simply reflected the remark casually. "You want to face Heather's wrath as a Mega Audino again? I sure wouldn't."

Gregorio growled, retreating for now. "Fine." He said, leaving to get breakfast. "But I'm still better than you!"

Ian and Luther simply laughed that off. "It's a lot easier to laugh things like that off now, huh?" Luther smiled.

"I guess so. Especially when he's like that to everyone." Ian chuckled. "But I want to practice battling after breakfast today. Maybe I can finally use a Pokémon move."

* * *

After breakfast, both Ian and Luther headed out in the very back of the playground to practice. But before the two got started, Luther spoke up.

"Hey… Ian?"

"Yeah?"

"Umm… before we get started… I'd like to give you something."

Luther pulled out something from his pocket. It was two bracelets, meant to be worn by a pair of Pokémon.

Ian observed them. One was red and the other was blue. They were carefully woven, to fit loosely on the wearer. The red bracelet had some beads on it, spelling I-A-N. The blue bracelet's beads spelled out L-U-T-H-E-R.

"It's a little rough, but… I made them in art class. They're friendship bracelets." Luther said, handing the blue one to Ian. This caused Ian a bit of confusion.

"Uhh… wouldn't I take the one with my name on it?" Ian asked.

The Frogadier shook his head. "No, you would take the one with my name on it. So that after one of us gets adopted, we'll always remember the other."

Ian thought about it. "That makes sense." He decided, putting on the blue bracelet. Luther did the same with the red bracelet.

"All right. Let's try out battling." Luther said, stepping in front of Ian. "Try using Blaze Kick."

Ian tried to jump up and thrust his foot forward, but ended up just hopping up and down in place on one foot. Frustrated, Ian tried shaking his free foot, but that only caused pain as he fell down, clutching it. "Ow, ow ow…" he muttered.

It dawned on Ian that this stupid physical weakness and disability wasn't going away with evolution. He could be a Blaziken, and he probably wouldn't even be able to use Scratch.

"Damn it…" Ian growled. "Why can't I use one stupid move?!"

"Ian… It's OK." Luther assured. "Let's just go back inside and…"

"And what? Let Gregorio mock me again? Watch more parents pass me over again because I can't battle?" Ian sighed. "Luther, I'm probably going to be here until they kick me out."

* * *

Unfortunately for Ian, his fears were proven right. A lot of parents initially seemed eager to adopt him, but he was usually dismissed once they discovered that he had no ability to use moves. And eventually, at age 10, Ian would have to face his worst fear.

It was an otherwise normal day. But Luther came into Ian's room to wake him up. He had to tell him something important. "Ian… Come on, Ian. Please wake up."

Ian yawned, trying to snuggle in bed. "What is it, Luther?"

Luther was quite nervous. "I uh… I kinda have good news and bad news."

"…I suppose I'll hear the bad news first." Ian said, starting to feel a pit feeling in his stomach.

"It's… uh… the news itself is both good and bad. But I'll just come out with it. Ian… I'm being adopted. And I leave today."

Ian sighed, shutting his eyes tightly as he covered himself with the blanket. In the back of his head, he always knew this day would come. He just never wanted to admit it. But now that it has, he was force to acknowledge it.

"I'm… I'm happy for you, Luther." Ian sighed.

The Frogadier hugged the Combusken. "I'm going to miss you a lot. But we'll always be friends. That'll never change. And even after I leave… I know someone will adopt you. Someone's going to love you for who you are, and they aren't going to care about your disabilities. You just haven't found the right parents yet."

Ian tucked himself into his bed further. "I wish I could believe you, Luther. I really do. But… I'm not going to be angry. I hope things go well for you and your new family."

Luther smiled softly, trying not to show the pain he was also feeling of having to leave his family. "I hope so too. Bye, Ian. Maybe we'll see each other again someday…"

* * *

That was the last time Ian saw that Frogadier. And unfortunately, Luther seemed to be wrong. Time after time, couples would decline on adopting him, not wanting to have to deal with his disabilities. And the problem only accelerated once he evolved into a Blaziken.

A Blaziken was supposed to be strong. Powerful. Amazing. Everything Ian wasn't. At this point, couples were not really fond of adopting a Blaziken at all, disability or not. The inevitable only came when he was a week from turning 18.

He sighed as he took in Heather's words. He knew she was right, and that the orphanage legally couldn't care for him anymore.

Walking over to his room, he thought about the memories the orphanage held. When he was first taken in by that Blissey, to when he first met Luther, to when Ms. Thorndale protected him by Mega Evolving and even to when he evolved. The orphanage actually held a lot of good memories for him.

Even Gregorio got some form of karmic retribution. When Gregorio had evolved into a Garchomp, he was all too happy to challenge the weak Blaziken. But before he could land one punch, Heather stopped him in her Mega Form once more.

Then he had tried to attack HER.

Big mistake. In Mega Form, Heather had Fairy-immunity to Gregorio's Dragon-type attacks. The Kalos government had to step in, taking Gregorio away from the orphanage because he now proved himself to be too much of a threat to keep in an orphanage full of kids. He was in juvie now, and would face trial for his assaults of both Ian and Heather when he turned 18.

Ian actually chuckled a bit, remembering how relieved he felt when Gregorio was taken away. Nobody had really bothered him since then.

He looked at the bracelet he still had. Looking at his arm, he still saw the word L-U-T-H-E-R still woven into it.

"I wonder Luther… where are you now?"

* * *

It had been 7 years since Luther was adopted by his family, a father Feraligatr and a mother Sceptile. He was now 17, and close to evolving into a Greninja, like he always wanted. And despite the years, he always kept his friendship bracelet with Ian's name on it. Luther never forgot about him.

But despite his adoption… he wasn't really happy. It wasn't that his parents were abusive, not at all. But… he couldn't shake the feeling that his parents were being rather… neglectful of him, whether it be intentional or not. Shortly after he was adopted, it was revealed that his adoptive mother was pregnant. It normally didn't bother him, but what did bother him was that, after the young Treecko Trevor was born, his parents started to pay less attention to him.

A lot less.

The Frogadier tried to pass it off as simple jealousy. That it was understandable that in the first few years, more focus would be on the newborn because it would be a lot of work.

But it didn't stop there. Whenever something bad happened, like an expensive vase breaking, the Treecko was quick to point fingers at Luther. Even when he tried to claim that he didn't do it, his parents always believed Trevor over Luther.

" _But maybe they're just watching out for Trevor."_ He tried to dismiss it.

But things didn't change. He took notice that at events like Christmas and his birthday, his gifts were a lot less nice than Trevor's. He wanted to dismiss it off as simple jealousy again, but it was hard to when you received socks and underwear for Christmas while your brother got a brand new portable gaming system.

Even when you asked for that same system yourself.

But last week, it was permanently cemented in Luther's mind that his parents were officially playing favorites. Last week, he was excited about getting his family portrait taken. He was all dressed up and ready, only for his parents to leave without him. So he had been left out. Of a 'family' portrait. If they didn't care enough to put him in a family portrait, then it occurred to Luther that he wasn't really family to them anymore.

And he wasn't going to take any more of this.

Luther packed what he needed. A week of food raided from the fridge, a couple of Potions and Ethers, a pillow and blanket, and last but not least, the friendship bracelet he had.

Sighing, he opened up the window in his bedroom. It was a clear entry to the suburbs of Lumiose City. He wasn't sure what was ahead, but it had to be better than living here. With a final 'good-bye', he hopped out through the window, shutting it behind him.

* * *

Luther wasn't sure how long he was wandering the streets of Lumiose City. He had left in the middle of the night, and now it was daylight outside. He felt his stomach rumbling, obviously hungry for food. Going a little bit into an alleyway, he started to unpack his food and eat.

He was eating for maybe 5 minutes when he felt someone breathing down his shoulder. Turning around slowly and horrified, he saw a punk Krookodile staring him down, his claws unsheathed.

He smirked confidently. "So… it looks like you picked the wrong neighborhood to mess with, pal. Unless you want to get clawed within an inch of your life, I recommend you pay my toll."

"T-Toll?" Luther said nervously. "I-I'm sorry, but I don't have any money."

"Oh. Too bad. Then it looks like you'll have to pay… with your life."

Luther leapt back, trying to send out Water Shurikens to knock down the Krookodile. Unfortunately, they hardly scraped him.

The Frogadier was no match for the Krookodile. Soon enough, the Frogadier was on the ground, bleeding badly. And to add insult to injury, he took the rest of Luther's stuff! Even the friendship bracelet!

"N-No… please…" he begged softly, trying to crawl out of the alleyway.

The Krookodile laughed. "Ha ha! See you never, punk!" he said, before disappearing back into the alleyways.

Luther tried to crawl out, getting within view of daylight, so that someone… anyone… could see him. But it was early, and almost nobody noticed him.

"N-No… so I'm just going to die here… I'm sorry I never got to see you again… Ian…" he said, before closing his eyes for what he thought would be the final time.

* * *

Imagine Luther's surprise when he woke up. He was confined to a bed, too weak to move. Fluids were being administered to him, making sure that he would be kept alive.

"Oh my word! You're awake!" said an unfamiliar voice. Someone dashed over to the bed Luther was at, and he was pretty surprised at who it was.

"P-Professor Sycamore…?" he said weakly.

"In the flesh."

"B-But… how did you… why would you…?"

"Try not to talk. It pushes your body too much. To answer your question, I was on the way to one of Lumiose's local cafés when I saw you at the side and in the alleyway, bleeding pretty heavily. I had no second thoughts, taking you to my nearby lab to get your vitals, administer IVs, and hopefully revive you."

"Oh." Luther sighed. "That's… good. When… When will I…?"

Professor Sycamore closed his eyes. "I'm afraid I have bad news regarding that. Mentally, your brain is stable. But your body is in absolute critical condition. You are… very likely to die if you are taking off of the life support you're on."

Luther looked over his body weakly. Professor Sycamore was completely right. Both of his legs were ripped off, forcing Sycamore to perform an amputation. Bandages were all over his body, covering deep scars caused by the Krookodile. And though he couldn't see it, his face was scarred and swollen, unable to see out of one of his eyes.

"I had my Alakazam assistant patch up the worst scars, and it's probably why you're still alive. But if I ever take you off of life support… you will die."

"No…" Luther whispered. "I… I can't be bedridden for the rest of my life. But… I don't want to die, either. I… I'm not ready to die." He begged. "Professor… isn't there… isn't there anything you can do?"

Sycamore closed his eyes, thinking. "I could… Could I really do that? I… I'm not sure if I could…"

"What… what is it?" Luther begged.

Sycamore sighed. "Well… I have a degree in robotics. And I'm known in Kalos for creating the world's first truly independent and self-functioning robot. I could…"

"…Put me into a robot?" Luther wondered.

"It wouldn't be that easy. The first robot I built was from scratch, who then developed a mind of his own. I'd have to figure out a way to transfer your soul… the very essence of your being… into a robot. I've never done that before. But… it might be possible, provided I had a way to transfer both your soul and your memories."

"Please." Luther pleaded. "Do it. I… I don't care if I'm a robot. I don't want to be bedridden. And… I need to find Ian again someday…"

"Ian?"

"A friend of mine. We last saw each other years ago, and… I have to see him again. But not like this."

After debating this mentally for a bit, Sycamore nodded. "All right. I'll do it. I can't promise that it will be a success, but… I'll do what I can."

* * *

Two years later…

Ian shivered as he roamed the cold streets of Kalos. He didn't know what time it was, but judging by the sun just starting to rise, he could deduce that it was early morning.

Somehow, even after leaving the orphanage, Ian had managed to keep himself alive. He never earned enough money to stay in an apartment, so he usually just slept on park benches. He wisely spent the little money he did earn, on food he could eat cold to sustain himself. He wondered if he was going to spend the rest of his life like this. He was thankful that he hadn't run into any of Lumiose City's gangs, or he figured he'd be dead by now.

But something kept him going. And he knew what it was. He kept two mementos with him. The first was the picture of him and his Dad at the Lumiose Tower. It was all he had left to remember his father by, and he was never going to let it go. The second was the friendship bracelet Luther had made for him. And he still remember Luther's last words to him.

" _I'm going to miss you a lot. But we'll always be friends. That'll never change. And even after I leave… I know someone will adopt you. Someone's going to love you for who you are, and they aren't going to care about your disabilities."_

He had two missions, and he would fulfill them. He was going to find a family that would take care of him. And he was going to find Luther.

But that wasn't on Ian's mind right now. He knew today was Tuesday, the day garbage was put out so it could be pick up by the city's garbage disposal department. And many Pokémon often left some good treats in their garbage. His stomach growled, absolutely starving. Looking at himself, he was as thin as a twig, from only being able to eat minimally from what he bought cheaply and with what he salvaged from trash cans. He was barely dressed as well, in a raggedy torn coat and torn shorts tossed away. Coming up to a house, strangely made mostly of metal, he saw a shiny Noivern rolling a garbage bin up to the front of the house for the trash men to collect. The very instant the Noivern turned his back, Ian dashed for the garbage can, flipping it out and digging through the contents. He was mostly confused by seeing mostly strange latex items, oil cans, and very little actual food.

However, the shiny Noivern's sharp sense of hearing heard the rummaging of his trash can. He turned around. "Hey!"

Knowing he was spotted, Ian tried to turn around and dash off.

"Wait!" the Noivern called out. "I won't hurt you!"

Ian's first instinct was to keep running. But his second… was to stop. He didn't know why, but he listened to this second instinct.

Ian slowly came to a stop, turning around to face the Noivern. He was dressed rather oddly now that the Blaziken got a good look at him, clad in a tight, yet thick rubber suit, to help the rubber suit keep him warm in the cold.

For some reason, Ian was compelled to walk towards the Noivern. Despite his odd clothing, he seemed nice enough. And it certainly looked more appealing than the raggedy clothes Ian was wearing, which only barely kept him warm in the cold weather.

"Uh… hi. I'm Telokey." The shiny Noivern introduced himself.

"Umm… I'm Ian." The Blaziken replied, shaking his hand.

Telokey looked at Ian in concern, looking over his body. "You look like you haven't eaten well in a long time. That's not healthy at all."

Ian looked over his thin-twig body again. The Noivern was right…

Telokey thought for a moment. "Why don't you come inside and get something to eat with me and my Master? We have plenty of regular food, despite what the garbage may suggest."

Ian was a bit hesitant. Here he was, trying to steal someone else's garbage and this Noivern dressed in what appears to be slave gear comes out and offers him to come into his house and eat with his 'Master'? Common sense should've told him to run away, and yet… something about the Noivern was… honest. Like he didn't actually wish the Blaziken any harm.

Thinking about it, the appeal of getting some actual good food in the longest time won out.

"OK. I'll come with you."

* * *

"Hey, Master!" Telokey yelled upstairs to where Xavier was still 'asleep'. "We've got a guest!"

Xavier booted out of sleep mode and put his body online, yawning as an odd natural reflex. He started to walk outside his room. "Telokey, haven't I told you not to yell when…"

Xavier stopped his slight scolding when he saw Ian. He quickly zipped downstairs, approaching Ian. Quietly, he looked him over.

Ian's heart was absolutely pounding. Here he was, face-to-face with an intimidating Lucario robot. Ian had heard about this guy. Not only was he an AI so real that he nearly felt human, but he knew this guy was armed with weapons that could kill him in a heartbeat.

"Might I ask who you are?" Xavier inquired.

"I-Ian, s-sir. P-Please… I-I w-would like to n-not be k-killed." Ian stuttered, a bit horrified.

Xavier was almost surprised by this, but he had received a couple of similar frightened reaction during his trip to Sinnoh. He knew full well how to handle this.

"Relax. I'm not going to hurt you, Ian. I wouldn't hurt anybody until they were a threat. I can tell from my analysis that you are rather malnourished. It is around breakfast time, so how about I fix you something to eat?"

* * *

Ian couldn't help but lick his lips as he saw the breakfast Xavier had cooked. Normally, he'd have let Telokey do the cooking, but he wanted to make a meal for Ian himself.

The meal was something Ian thought he'd never get to eat again, being what he considered a gourmet meal. Scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausages, and a biscuit.

"Is this… are you really fixing this for me?" Ian asked.

"Of course." Xavier said.

At those words, Ian pretty much devoured everything but the plate within only 30 seconds.

"Wow!" Telokey chuckled, seeing Ian lick the plate. "You must've been really hungry."

"Yeah… thanks. I really was."

"So… if I may ask… why were you digging through our garbage?" Xavier questioned.

"Well…" Ian sighed. "I'm sort of homeless."

"How did that happen?" Telokey asked.

Ian was silent for a bit. "You sure you want to hear? It's a pretty long story."

Xavier smiled softly, sitting next to Ian. "We have plenty of time."

Ian was a bit surprised. Sure, this Lucario was a robot… but he was surprisingly compassionate. He really seemed to care for the Pokémon he called his 'slave' and even showing concern about a total stranger. Ian wasn't sure how that was possible, but it was interesting nevertheless.

So, Ian began his story.

* * *

"And… yeah. That's how I got here."

Xavier and Telokey were dead silent. It was a rough story to swallow, from Ian's disabilities to his childhood to his father's death to going to the orphanage… all the way up to where he was now, to find a family and find Luther.

"Wow. I could tell you were likely homeless from your malnourishment, but I had no idea that…" Xavier cut himself off.

Telokey, meanwhile, was hugging the Blaziken, feeling the utmost genuine sympathy for him.

"But… I should probably get going. I've bothered you guys long enough."

"No, no, no, no, no!" Xavier and Telokey both insisted simultaneously, with Telokey hugging Ian more closely.

"I mean… I can't let you go back out there in good faith knowing your story. It's amazing you've even been alive for those two years in the streets." Xavier said. "To be honest, the statistical odds of surviving that long are slim in the first place. And if I just let you go back out there like you are… well, those odds drop dangerously close to a 0% chance of survival. I would… like you to offer you a place to stay here."

Ian was surprised. This robot and Noivern… they were offering him a place to stay? For real?

"And…" Xavier paused for a bit. "I'd… like you to try something. You don't necessarily have to like it, and it won't change my opinion of letting you stay here… but see… I've been wanting a fellow slave for Telokey for some time. A while back, I had to leave him home alone while I attended an expo in Sinnoh. And… I'd like him to have some company."

Ian listened. "So… if I stay here… I have to wear that rubber stuff?"

"I want you to try it, at least. And if you don't like it, then I'm still willing to fully accommodate you even if you decline on being a rubber slave."

"All right." Ian said without hesitation. "I'll try it."

"That was a fast decision." Telokey chuckled.

"Honestly… I think having a family will be nice. And I think I might like this rubber stuff. I saw it on Telokey and… it looked quite comfortable, actually. Maybe even a little… sexy. But… I want to ask one favor before I do stay."

"Yeah?" Xavier asked.

"…You still have to let me look for Luther."

Xavier nodded. "All right. But… this reminds me of something. Telokey, I think you remember that when we first met, I briefly mentioned that Professor Sycamore was working on a Greninja robot, right?"

Telokey nodded. "Yeah. I do remember that."

"Well… with Ian's story, I knew the name Luther rang a bell. So I checked my data banks, and the Greninja robot… its' codename is Project Luther."

Ian was surprised, but then shook his head. "It's probably just a coincidence."

Just then, a phone rang. But it was no ordinary phone. Xavier put his fingers to his head, answering a teleconference call from Professor Sycamore.

"Hello, Professor. What is it?"

Sycamore smiled. "I have some great news. Project Luther is complete! I'd like to invite both of you to come down to witness the grand activation."

Xavier chuckled. "Well, you'll have to change 'both' to 'all'. We just got a new member in the family."

"Really? Who?"

"A Blaziken named Ian. Sycamore, if you don't mind…"

"Already on it." Sycamore replied. "I'm checking my journal entries on Project Luther's past."

Xavier was surprised. "His past? But isn't he a robot like me?"

Sycamore chuckled nervously. "There's a little bit I didn't tell you about Project Luther a.k.a. The Greninja Robot. He's not quite an original creation. He's being created from the body of a Frogadier named Luther. I studied the properties of the 'soul' very heavily, as it is essentially what makes a living being… themselves. Their personality, their memories, their influences… the 'soul' contains all of these. And I finally manage to transfer the soul to the robot Greninja. He's fully charged too, so he just needs to be activated now."

"…And the journal entries?" Xavier asked.

"…Right. So, I checked my journal entries near the beginning of Project Luther. And it turns out that shortly before Luther lost all ability to speak in his Frogadier form, he told me of a Combusken he knew named Ian. In fact… he wanted me to do this project so he could see Ian again. He wanted me to keep him on life support until I completed this project."

Xavier thought for a bit. "So… it was Ian's wish to see Luther… and Luther's wish to see Ian."

"And I think that's who you have now."

"…I'll be there ASAP." Xavier said, before dropping the call.

* * *

The trio of Xavier, Telokey, and Ian all arrived at Professor Sycamore's lab. Telokey had changed into a more modest T-shirt and jeans for appearing in front of Sycamore, and Ian had worn the rubber suit Xavier had given him. It was kinda tight, but rather cozy. Nevertheless, it wasn't on his mind as the trio came inside.

"Where's Luther?" Ian asked Sycamore, hoping that this was indeed the same Luther he was thinking of.

"Well… Luther's physical body…" Sycamore spoke softly, opening up to a small room next to him. Inside was Luther's physical Frogadier body, which was starting to rot with how long it had been on life support.

"No… Luther…" Ian gasped.

"But he's not there anymore." Sycamore said, reassuring Ian. "I've managed to successfully transfer the soul of that body into this Greninja robot."

Ian looked over the robot. It was rather similar to how an actual Greninja robot, except perhaps slightly taller and well… robotic. It was still and lifeless right now.

"…This is Luther?"

"It will be. Once I activate him." Sycamore informed.

"…Then go for it." Ian said.

Sycamore nodded, flipping a switch on a large console. Immediately, the Greninja robot's eyes opened.

The robot made an odd groaning noise, sitting up. "Uhh… what's going on here? What…?"

"Luther?" Sycamore asked. "You… you remember your name, right?"

"Accessing data banks…" the Greninja robot was silent for a while, putting everyone (especially Ian) on edge.

"No match for 'Luther' was found."

"No…" Sycamore said, his mouth covered. "Did… did I do something wrong? Did the soul not transfer correctly? Is Luther really gone?"

Sycamore grasped his head, angry. "Two years… two years for nothing."

Ian walked over to the Greninja robot slowly, who was still laying down. "Luther… do you remember this?" he said, giving the robot one of his most prized mementos. It was the friendship bracelet, with L-U-T-H-E-R on it.

The robot looked at the bracelet, wondering if it meant anything…

"Reloading memory." The Greninja robot suddenly stated, remaining completely still on the table he was on. Something inside him was turning on… like a light shining in the darkness, illuminating so he could now see.

* * *

" _Ian! Are you OK? I saw what that Gible was doing, but I was on the other end of the playground and by the time I got over to you-"_

" _No, you would take the one with my name on it. So that after one of us gets adopted, we'll always remember the other."_

" _I'm going to miss you a lot. But we'll always be friends. That'll never change. And even after I leave… I know someone will adopt you. Someone's going to love you for who you are, and they aren't going to care about your disabilities."_

* * *

"Reload 100% complete." The Greninja robot turned to Ian, standing up. He smiled. "Hello Ian. I'm Luther."

"LUTHER!" Ian shouted in joy, hugging the robot. "You remember… you really remember…"

"I told you… no matter what happens… we'll always be best friends."

Sycamore sighed in relief. "Thank God."

Luther turned to Professor Sycamore. "Sycamore? Is it OK if I stay with Ian and his friends? I… I think we both have homes now."

The Professor smiled. "Of course, Luther."

Ian hugged Luther again. "Come on, you've got to meet my new family."

* * *

 _Pokémon © Nintendo / Game Freak_

WOW, this was a doozy of a chapter. Over 8,000 words, and something I poured my entire heart and soul into. I really hope you guys like it. And please be sure to review/comment.


	4. The Life and Times of Sage Simmons

The Life and Times of Sage Simmons

(It should be noted that this version is slightly censored from the original submission my friend wrote. This is actually his writing, but is connected to this particular story series, so I am submitting it here. However, the censored changes are very minor. Also, in comparison to the previous chapter, this one is very, VERY bondage-y. And if you don't like that, please feel free to ignore. You've been warned.)

* * *

"5… 4… 3… 2… 1! Ready or not, here I come!"

Adjusting the cowboy hat he wore, the small Treecko set off into the woods behind his house…

And promptly stopped upon seeing the small feather poking up behind a low sitting shrub.

Smirking to himself, the Treecko readied a pretty authentic lasso he had in hand.

"THERE YOU ARE!" He suddenly shouted.

There was a panicked squawk, and a young Rufflet tried to make a run for it… only to get lassoed up by the Treecko.

"Ah! Sage, come on! That's not fair!" The Rufflet complained as the Treecko trussed him up.

"You know the rules." The Treecko, named Sage, laughed to himself.

"Why can't be play NORMAL hide and seek!?" The Rufflet complained, trying to struggle loose from the surprisingly rope-adept Sage.

"Because cowboys and Indians is a lot more fun. I get to use my lasso." The Treecko smiled.

"My mom says it's a racist game…" The Rufflet grumbled as Sage stood him up, tying him to a nearby tree.

Once it was done, Sage, with a yelp from the Rufflet, plucked a loose feather from his friend, holding it in front of his face.

"Now, tell me where everyone else is hiding." He smirked.

The Rufflet's eyes widened.

"Wh-what? Sage… come on. I don't know where they ar-ha-ha-ha-HA-HA-HA! A-a-a-alright! I'll ta-ha-ha-halk!" The Rufflet begged, going from resolute to submissive in seconds as Sage teased his neck with one of his own feathers.

And by the end of the day, Sage had all five of his friends tied to that tree, taking great pleasure in their laughs…

Nine years later…

"One more! One more! Come on man, just one more!" The Braviary shouted as a remarkably buff Grovyle thrust the barbell he was using skyward again, racking it. Once again, his own personal record broken.

"Arceus damn, Sage. I mean, I know your dad's a Machamp… but damn, I don't even think I've seen Rodney lift that much. And he's actually a Machoke!"

Sage sat up on the bench, wiping the sweat from his brow. He had certainly changed from the average looking Treecko he had been. His Dad's genetics were really starting to show in him at this point, which was usually quite rare. Sage half wondered if he'd suddenly sprout an extra pair of arms…

"Well, I have to make up for my shortcomings somehow. Slow as a Torkoal? Then I need to get strong as a Machamp." Sage reasoned. It was true, he didn't possess the gracefulness and agility his species was known for. So, he was doing his best to really bulk himself up. And it was working very well.

"Think I could go a few more, Hiawatha?"

The Braviary, Hiawatha, looked dumbfounded at his friend.

"A few more? How!? How do you have any muscle left after lifting that!?"

"Hey, what's life without a little challenge? Come on, I need a spotter."

Sage lay back down on the bench while Hiawatha stood over him at the head of the bench. And with a grunt, he continued to pump the 320 pound barbell.

A few months later…

Hiawatha, wiping the tears from his eyes, turned on the shower.

The locker room had long since cleared out, the Braviary having waited until everyone had finished using it before stepping in.

He let the cold water splash down his back, hoping it would distract him from his sorrows. It didn't.

He'd worked just as hard as Sage. So why is it that Sage made the team… AND HE DIDN'T!?

Hiawatha felt just the slightest bit jealous of him, even though the two of them were now… well, that wasn't important.

Hiawatha just closed his eyes, letting his thoughts drift…

"Rough day, huh."

Hiawatha opened his eyes, hearing the voice right in his ear. It was Sage.

"Yeah… rough day." The Braviary answered blandly, not too bothered by the fact he could feel Sage's bare chest pressed against his back.

"Look… it doesn't mean anything. I know how you f…"

"Please, just stop right there. Because you don't know how I feel." Hiawatha objected.

"Don't I? Come on, last year of middle school. I didn't make the track team because I was too slow. Me, a Grovyle. But that's because I'm not that fast." Sage reassured.

"Yeah. But you at least have the muscle to make up for the speed you don't have. What have I got when I don't have either of those?" Hiawatha asked.

"Oh, I know a few areas you're gifted in." Sage chuckled, pressing more against Hiawatha. The Braviary then realized… Sage wasn't just bare chested. He was nude.

"Sage… come on. Here?" Hiawatha blushed.

"Why not? Everyone else is gone. You made sure of that. Besides… I went out and got a little something from my car."

Sage's hand went around in front of Hiawatha's face, revealing some zipties.

"You kinky bastard." Hiawatha laughed.

"Alright, sure. What the heck."

"That's what I like to hear." Sage smiled, lifting Hiawatha's arms above his head, ziptying his wrists to one of the other not in use shower heads in the multi-person shower space.

"I saw you just standing in here under the water not even making an effort to clean yourself, and if you think I'll let my boyfriend go home smelling like a Garbodor, think again."

Hiawatha blushed brightly.

"So… you're going to wash me?" Hiawatha asked hopefully.

"Heck yeah. Gonna make my dirty birdy here a clean…. damn. Thought I'd have a rhyme for clean there. Anyways, just relax. Let me take care of you."

And Hiawatha did so. He just hung there by his wrists as Sage ran his firm hands through his feathers, helping to wash all the day's sweat away. And Hiawatha enjoyed every second of it.

The two had always engaged in kinky escapades before, but this was the first time they'd ever done it in such a public place. And the possibility of discovery just made the experience better for the both of them.

And a good twenty minutes later, Sage shut off the water.

"Look at those feathers shine." He admired.

"You know… you may not have strength or speed. But I know something you do have."

Hiawatha looked quizzically at Sage, waiting for him to finish.

"… what?" He asked.

"You've got grace." Sage smiled.

"Seriously, you could give any girl on the cheerleading squad a run for their money."

Hiawatha just scoffed.

"Yeah. Me a cheerleader."

Sage, however, was giving the idea more serious consideration.

"You know… that's not that half bad an idea." He mused.

"I have you on the sidelines cheering me on, you get to stay active, and you get to wear a cute little outfit."

Hiawatha blushed brighter.

"You do know I'm not going to be wearing a skirt, right?" He protested.

"And cheerleading? Really? What makes you think I could make the team?"

"Like I said. You've got grace." Sage winked.

"As well as a pretty feminine bod. Heck, they'd probably give you a skirt if you asked for one. WHICH, I expect you to do. You'd fit right in."

Hiawatha could have been a fire type with how red he was getting at all these remarks.

"… I'll give it a shot… but no skirts!"

Sage laughed out loud at Hiawatha's embarrassment.

"I'll think about not making that mandatory for you."

Sage turned away, leaving the shower area and walking back to his locker to dry off and get dressed. Hiawatha stood there, his feathers dripping as Sage got dressed.

"Sooooo… mind untying me?" He asked, tugging on the zipties.

Sage looked up.

"Hmm? Oh, no, you're not getting let out just yet." He smirked.

"I mean, we have the locker room to ourselves. And didn't you say that being bound and played with by some jock was a fantasy of yours?"

Hiawatha deadpanned, processing this.

"B-b-but… what if someone finds us in here!?"

Sage, dressed now only in some tight fitting athletic boxers, walked over to Hiawatha.

"Who? School isn't in, and everyone that came for tryouts is already gone. Even the coaches. It's just you and me in here." He said, one of his hands clenching something.

"Oooooh…" Hiawatha moaned, his excitement over this pretty noticeable.

"See? I knew you'd like it. You know what else I know you'd like…?"

Sage brought his closed fist up to Hiawatha's beak, muzzling the beak with…

The jockstrap he'd worn for tryouts.

Sage, after wrapping it like a muzzle around Hiawatha's beak, zip tied it on.

"Now, take a deep breath." The Grovyle ordered.

Hiawatha, his breathing shallow from his own excitement, did as he was told…

And his knees almost buckled as he got a full force whiff of Sage's musk.

"You know, maybe you should just wear this all day? I mean, neither of us are going anywhere TOO public the rest of the day. I bet you could pull it off." Sage chuckled, as the Braviary moaning even louder, his squawks filling the locker room as he was pleasured, his nose filled with the scent of his Sceptile lover's musk. And the fact that this was happening in a place where someone could easily walk in on them only aroused him more. He loved this. He loved the musky scent clouding his mind. And he loved Sage…

"Now… there's plenty of other places for me to bind you. And don't forget, there's a laundry hamper absolutely filled with the gear from all the guys that tried out today. Maybe spending some time in there will help you learn to really crave musk. I mean, we've got the whole day here together. Might as well make it fun."

Hiawatha moaned out even louder. Spending a kinky day with Sage was a dream come true for the flying type. He would cherish every second of it…

Several months later…

Hiawatha, as well as the rest of the cheer squad and the stadium for that matter, went wild as Sage, for the fifth time that night, blew through the line and completely obliterated the quarterback. The game wasn't even close at this point. Forty five to twelve in the final quarter of the game, it was obvious who the victor would be. The Roaring Raikous.

"YEEEEEESSSS! YEAAAAAH! THAT'S MY BOYFRIEND!" Hiawatha screamed, though stopped as he got odd looks from his cheer squadmates.

More or less all the school knew about Hiawatha and Sage's relationship at this point. The two of them had more or less come out at the same time to their other friends, and the news had spread like wildfire around the school. But it wasn't MAJOR news. It was just two guys who happened to like one another. Nothing big.

And both Sage's and Hiawatha's parents had been more than supportive about the whole thing.

"Someone sounds excited." One of Sage's teammates chuckled, nudging said Sceptile.

Yes, Sage was now fully evolved. Not only that, but in terms of body size, he was basically a Machoke now. He had bulked up exponentially throughout the season, much to Hiawatha's delight.

"He always gets like that at games." Sage chuckled, getting into position for the next play. Even IF the game was in the bag for them at this point, Sage wasn't planning on letting up. After all, he still had an audience to entertain. And one certain flying type. Especially one certain flying type.

Thirty minutes later…

The Raikous had of course won the game. Had there really been any doubt they wouldn't have?

The stands were already clearing out, Sage removing his gear on the sidelines. He'd hurt his ankle a little during the last play, but nothing major. A few minutes of absorbing sunlight would have him fixed up in no time.

"Good game out there." Hiawatha said, walking up behind the Sceptile and giving him a hug.

"I mean… it looked like a good game. I more or less was just seeing Pokemon fly around out there wherever you went."

Sage chuckled at that. No doubt that wasn't an exaggeration. He didn't even need Giga Impact to do some damage with a full on tackle.

"James and some of the other guys are taking the cheer squad out for some celebratory burgers, me included. Want to come with us?" Hiawatha asked with a smile.

"Thanks, but walking around on this ankle isn't going to do me any good. Especially if I'm going to compete in the weightlifting competition in a couple weeks from now." Sage explained.

Hiawatha smiled at the Sceptile.

"Always working. Come on, what's one day on it going to do to you? You were out there running right after you hurt it."

"It's called adrenaline, Hia. Seriously, as much as I'd love hanging out with you, I need to get home and ice this up. If I walk around too much on it, then not even solar healing will be able to do anything about it quickly. But I promise that tomorrow night, I'll take you to a movie AND to dinner." Sage smiled, giving Hiawatha a small hug.

"... alright. That sounds like a pretty good deal." Hiawatha said, returning the hug.

"But you be careful going home. You'd better be able to press the brake pedal on your car with that ankle."

"I'm hurt, Hiawatha. Not crippled." Sage deadpanned, giving his boyfriend a kiss before walking out of the stadium, him and Hiawatha going their separate ways for the night…

Sage got out of his car, seeing his parents had gotten home before him. They'd come to the game of course, like they always did, but had left a good few minutes before Sage had. This year's season had been AMAZING for Sage. Even more so than last year's. And that's because he'd had Hiawatha on the sidelines rather than the bleachers this year.

Getting out of his car, wincing a little as he put his weight back on his foot, Sage walked up to his front door, turning the handle and pushing it open.

"I'm home!" Sage called out, hanging his keys up on a coat hook near their front door.

The smell of ground beef filled the house. No doubt something being fixed by his mom.

"There he is." Sage's dad, a pretty well statured Machamp, greeted enthusiastically.

"Heck of a season you played this year."

Sage's dad pulled his son into a hug, Sage returning the favor, the both of them patting each other on the back.

"Think you'll play again next year? Or give battling a try?" The Machamp asked.

"I told you dad, I'm saving battling for my senior year. I need to really train myself up if I want to stand a chance." Sage said.

Of course, that was a lie. He wanted to keep going until senior year just because of how much he enjoyed the sport.

"What's mom cooking?" Sage asked, him and his dad walking into the living room. It was almost like his dad was leading him there for a discussion…

His theory was further strengthened when his dad sat down in his armchair. Yep, a discussion was about to go down.

"Baked spaghetti." His dad answered.

"Uh… Sage. I was wanting to talk with you about something."

Yep, Sage was right. His dad wanted to talk to him about something. But what he wanted to talk with his son about remained to be seen…

"So… you know that I love you, right?" His dad asked.

"Yeah dad." Sage nodded. Most discussions regarding the more private things in Sage's life started this way.

"Well… I just wanted to make sure that you understand that you and Hiawatha need to take precautions with all the… "stuff" you two do together."

Sage's green face turned red a little.

"Dad… we don't "do it", if that's what you're worried about. I just sort of… you know… tie him up sometimes. He likes it, and so do I."

"I know, I know. You've told me that before. But I'm just making sure you know what you're doing. Because if you ever went too far and hurt him… well, you'd probably feel pretty guilty about it." Sage's dad continued.

"I'm just tying him up dad. I'm not choking him, whipping him, or beating him. He just likes being restrained, and I like restraining him. Just some basic bondage stuff." Sage explained. He was kind of glad that his mom wasn't here. She was usually pretty sensitive towards this sort of stuff.

Sage's dad nodded.

"When or how did you even figure out you were into this sort of thing?" He asked.

This was getting a little TOO personal for Sage. But this was his dad, so some of the awkwardness was taken away.

"...Well... you remember that one movie we saw... Fall of Darkrai? That scene where Darkrai captured the main character Blaziken? Had him... totally helpless? All in chains? In just his underwear, as he's forced to be a slave to the Darkrai until his friends rescue him? I thought that was... kinda... really... sexy. The power of the Darkrai... the helplessness of the Blaziken... it was... yeah…"

Sage trailed off. He did NOT need to arouse himself right now of all times.

"That movie you liked to watch a lot when you were a Treecko? I thought it was because you just liked that one brief scene of Cresselia's naked ass." Sage's dad laughed.

"D-dad!" Sage exclaimed, blushing brightly.

"Oh come on, you DID watch it a lot as a kid. I even found it playing on your TV in your room on an endless loop while you slept. Was that why you made me teach you how to tie a lasso?"

"Uh… no." Sage chuckled.

"I guess another reason I liked it so much was when I would have all my friends over in our backyard as a kid, and we'd play cowboys and indians."

"Ah… now it all makes sense. You used to have just Hiawatha over for that sometimes. The two of you go way back." Sage's dad nodded.

"And for what it's worth, the two of you make a cute couple."

Sage smiled at that.

"Thanks dad."

"JUST DON'T ENGAGE IN PRE-MARITAL SEX!" A voice shouted from the kitchen.

"I know mom!" Sage shouted back.

"I just like tying him up! I'm not having sex with him!"

Sage's dad laughed at that, standing up from his chair.

"Well, better go help her get dinner ready. Is Hiawatha coming over?"

"No. He's out with some friends." Sage said, making to stand up as well, but winced a little at his hurt ankle.

"Uh… mind getting me some ice for this? I'm a little hurt."

"Hi a little hurt. I'm dad." Sage's dad laughed, walking to get the ice.

Sage deadpanned, watching him go. His family could be goofs sometimes… but he loved them. They had accepted him for what he was, and they would forever have Sage's respect.

Meanwhile…

"And the next thing you know, we see this Hyper Beam shoot up in the sky, and James is flying back to us screaming "START THE CAR!""

The entire group burst into laughter, Hiawatha included.

They had gone to a local steakhouse for the celebration, everyone just enjoying each other's company.

"Who was shooting the Hyper Beam?" Hiawatha asked.

"Who do you think? Old mon Setzler was!" A Smeargle said.

"So we're trying to start the car up, but Setzler went into a Rollout at some point, and he was coming right for us. Guess he knew we'd stolen his mailbox AGAIN."

"So what'd you do?" A Gardevoir cheerleader asked.

"What do you think we did? We got the heck out of there on foot. Tore off the license plates before we did so we wouldn't get caught." James the Skarmory beemed.

"Of course… we had to get the truck back somehow."

"No way you went back there." Hiawatha exclaimed in disbelief.

"Oh, we did. But… that's a story for another time." The Smeargle chuckled, taking another sip of his drink.

"Six burgers and eight steaks for the Madison party!" An Alakazam waiter called out, levitating several platters of food..

"Over here!" James the Skarmory said, waving his metal wing.

"I'll be right back. I need to wash up. James, make sure Rory doesn't touch my food." Hiawatha said, the Hariyama throwing his arms up at being accused of such a thing.

"You can count on me." James saluted.

Hiawatha stood up from his chair, heading to the bathroom.

Along the way, he passed by the bar, seeing a group of mon wearing jerseys from the team they'd played tonight sitting at the bar. And from the looks of it, they were all pretty drunk. And not one of them even over 21…

"Ugh… despicable." Hiawatha rolled his eyes, walking into the bathroom and washing up.

Once Hiawatha got back to the table, he and the rest of his friends just ate and enjoyed each others company, telling a few small stories here and there, but none near as funny as the story of when James, Shepherd, and Marco took on old mon Setzler and his beloved mailbox.

Before long, it was time for the group to pay the bill and head home.

"Don't worry everyone, I've got it." The Smeargle said.

"You just love showing off how rich you are." A Staraptor cheerleader said.

"Maaaaybe." The Smeargle winked, paying the bill.

Once it was paid, the group left the restaurant, each heading to their vehicles.

"See you guys tomorrow!" Hiawatha called out. After all, it was only Thursday. Tomorrow, Hiawatha would turn in his cheerleader uniform. Both the shorts… and the skirt which he had worn to only two games, at Sage's request.

He flipped his keys out of his pocket, unlocking his car as he walked towards it.

But suddenly, the rev of an engine filled his ears, followed by the screech of tires. He turned to the left just in time to see the back of a black sports car flying at him. He let out a yelp…

The next day…

Sage walked into his second period classroom. He was still getting congratulations on last night's game. Not as much as the more prestigious/popular players, something Sage was a little irked about, but it was good enough for now.

Taking his seat, he waited for Hiawatha to walk in. He wanted to tell the Braviary about the weird conversation he'd had with his parents last night.

But soon the bell rang. Still no Hiawatha. Maybe he'd made himself sick from eating…?

But ten minutes into class, a Chatot office aid knocked on the door. The old Rhydon teacher who had been rambling on about the history of the ancient Mewan civilization answered the door, walking outside at the direction of the office aid.

Of course, no one thought it was anything bad at first. After all, teachers were delivered messages like this all the time.

The discussion was short, lasting only a few minutes, and both the teacher and office aid walked back into the room.

"Hello." The Chatot greeted.

"If I may have your attention for a few minutes please."

Most of the students looked to one another oddly, wondering what this was about. The last time this had happened, it was to discuss an anti-Rare Candy program at the school. Sage wondered what was going on now?

"As some of you may already know, last night… Reuben Hiawatha was killed in a parking lot by a drunk driver."

Sage froze.

"His killer is in custody however, and will be prosecuted. Now, if any of you have trouble dealing with this, we have set up quiet rooms with counselors around the school. If you need to go to one of these at any point, teachers have been notified to let you leave cl…"

The words were just going through one ear and out the other. Sage was processing what he'd just been told in his head over and over, trying to comprehend it. He'd heard Hiawatha's name… and someone had been killed… but it couldn't have been Hiawatha that was killed… right? That didn't make sense. Sage had seen him just last night. Alive and breathing. Happy…

"... sorry to have interrupted your class. Good afternoon."

And with that, the Chatot office aid left.

The room was silent. And of course… almost all eyes were on Sage, seeing how he'd react to this. After all, his relationship with Hiawatha was known all over the school.

"Sage… you ok?" A Weavile girl asked in concern.

"... yeah… j-j-just need some water…" He said, standing up.

Everyone looked on sympathetically as Sage walked out of the classroom and into the hallway.

But he didn't go to the nearest drinking fountain. He just kept walking, heading for one of the school's exits.

 _"He's not gone. It was someone else was all. Hiawatha's fine._

Sage pushed open one of the school's side exits, walking out of it onto the grassy lawn of the school. But though the sun was shining on his leafs, he could feel something was wrong with them. They weren't absorbing sunlight like they usually did.

 _"Come on Hia, you're late. Just pull into the parking lot right now. Come on… come on… please….."_

 _Sage used Frenzy Plant_

With a scream of anger, sadness, and downright hopelessness, Frenzy Plants erupted all around the lawn before disappearing a second later, Sage collapsing on the ground, crying for someone to tell him this wasn't real.

But it was. Hiawatha was gone.

One week later…

Sage more or less had trudged through the past couple of days, trying to survive. Emotionally, he had more or less completely shut down. He didn't smile, wasn't really tasting food…

And some of his leafs were starting to brown.

Hiawatha's killer had been an Ampharos. He'd been at that restaurant with Hiawatha the night of his death, drinking. He'd had an older friend order him and his other friends beer, and he'd gotten drunk. He'd pushed down on the pedal too hard pulling out of the parking lot, and crushed Hiawatha's chest under his back left wheel. It had been quick at least…

"Sage? You ok?"

Sage set his phone down, but didn't turn to make eye contact with the speaker.

"Look… I'm sorry. I should have made sure Hiawatha got to his car alright. But I didn't…"

Sage turned around a little, seeing James the Skarmory standing there.

"It's not your fault." Sage said simply before turning back around, picking up his phone again. He was waiting for news on the trial regarding the Ampharos…

Sebastian was his name. He came from good money, and his family was well known in his community.

He had come to watch the game that had taken place on that night, got depressed by the victory, and so got drunk.

Now Sage couldn't help but feel partly responsible for what happened. Maybe if he'd gone with Hiawatha… maybe if they hadn't won the game…

Maybe, maybe, maybe…

"You were there. Why didn't you text me?" Sage suddenly asked.

"You could've told me about what happened that night so I didn't have to figure it out at school the next morning."

James looked at a loss for words.

"I… I didn't want to ruin your night." James eventually said.

Sage just grunted, turning back to his phone.

"Just… leave me alone."

James was about to say more… but decided against it. With a solemn look behind him, James returned to his own table, leaving Sage alone at his.

Sage had eaten lunch by himself since the incident. Well… he hadn't actually "eaten" lunch by himself. He'd just sat there on his phone, reading.

The only nourishment he took in anymore was from the sun, and that just simply wasn't enough for someone like him. But he was too sick to eat. He just couldn't…

And what reading had kept his attention the fast few days?

Well, the trial proceedings mostly…

But also the social media page of Sebastian the Ampharos.

Sage didn't want to hate him… he really didn't. But it the stuff the selfish prick had been posting was making that really hard.

The status update that he'd made the night of the accident infuriated Sage.

"They arrested me for running over a bird! WTF!?"

Of course… Sage had taken into account the fact he might have been drunk at the time of making that… but it didn't get any better as time went on.

He'd called Hiawatha something on one status that had caused Sage to break his phone in half, resulting in him having to reactivate his older one.

And it just kept going…

At least the guy was drawing hate towards himself. The trial seemed like an open and closed case. Hiawatha would be avenged…

The idea that the killer might walk had been the source of most of Sage's anxiety. Yeah, Hiawatha's death was another part of it… but Hiawatha had always talked about coming back as a Ghost type. Specifically, a Gengar. Sage would just have to wait for him…

The rest of the school day passed by fairly quickly for Sage. His phone had run out of battery power around the second to last period, stopping his lurking on Sebastian's social media for the time being. With football over, Sage was free to head right home after school. Off-season hadn't started up just yet.

And so, fifteen minutes after getting in his car to leave school, Sage was in his room. A little reading helped calm his nerves immensely.

"Sage!" The voice of Sage's mom called.

"Coming!" Sage responded, setting the book aside for the moment as he exited his room, flicking a small piece of dead leaf off his shoulder.

When he entered the living room, he knew something was wrong. Both his parents were there. And they looked grim.

"What's… going on?" Sage asked, taking a seat in the room.

Both his parents looked to each other, as if silently debating about who should deliver the news they had to share. It was eventually decided it would be his mom.

"Sage… have you been keeping up with things on your phone?" She asked.

"... yes? I check as often as I can… but my phone's charging now. Why?"

His mom sighed.

"The verdict was reached today." She continued.

"Did you know that?"

"No mom, I didn't. My phone is charging." Sage growled irritably… but immediately felt a pang of guilt upon seeing how that hurt his mom.

"I'm… I'm sorry. You were saying?"

Sage's dad took over in light of his outburst.

"The verdict is… he gets one month jail time, and two months probation, with an additional 6 months on parole."

Sage's expression was blank.

"Look, we don't agree with it either, but… the judge's mind was made up." His mom continued.

"We're really sor…"

Sage got up, and stormed off to his room, the door slamming shut, leaving his solemn parents sitting there.

Sage threw himself on his bed, crying for the first time in a while. Even when he'd heard the news, he hadn't cried like this. He'd been too shocked to really process the whole thing. But this… this wasn't right! That bastard had killed Hiawatha! And he was getting off with one month of jailtime? SAGE HAD BEEN GROUNDED LONGER THAN THAT!

Sage reached for his phone, switching it on. It couldn't be true. He had to see this for himse…

The phone's browser opened back onto Sebastian's profile page… showing his latest status update.

"Judge is letting me off with a warning! No jail time at all! Party at my place tonight!"

Sage paused for a moment… then fired a single bullet seed into the phone, throwing it to the ground. The judge had declared one month jail time, and hadn't even held onto that promise. There was money involved here. There had to be. That was the only explanation…

Sage lay back on his bed, his head swimming with ideas. Terrible ideas of vengeance… thoughts of how things might have gone differently if Sage had done anything but go home that night because of his f*cking ankle…

Then… something hit him. It was just a thought at this point, no real substance to it. But the more he thought about it, the more he liked it.

If the justice system wasn't going to live up to its name… then Sage would take care of things himself. And Sebastian was going to get a life sentence.

The next night…

"You really need to get that license plate fixed." James said as the truck pulled up to the spot they'd been told to meet at.

The sound of it banging against the back of the truck had been audible all the way there, and no doubt the group would have been pulled over for their half detached plate.

"Hey, it's not my fault zipties can't handle the way this thing drives." Marco the Smeargle said as he put it in park. And on a side note, the group was parked AT a park.

"You don't think he just called us here… because he was planning on killing himself… do you?" Shepherd the Lucario asked in concern.

"What? Sage? Kill himself? Get real. The guy loves life too much for that sort of thing." Rory the Hariyama said, looking around himself for the Sceptile who'd called them there. But there was no sign of him…

Marco turned off his truck, opening the door.

"Come on. Let's find him." The Smeargle said, motioning for the others to follow.

Marco, James, Rory, and Shepherd all spilled out of the truck, looking for Sage.

All four of them had received the same text.

"Meet me at the park. I have to talk about something."

And so… here they were. But no sign of…

"Hey."

James screamed, jumping into Rory's arms, the Hariyama dropping him to the ground shortly afterward.

"Whoa… calm down there." Sage chuckled.

It did the group a load of good to hear him laugh like that…

"Sage, it's like… 12 in the morning. What's with the secret meeting? If you're selling Rare Candies, then I'm afraid to tell you we aren't interested." Marco said.

Sage chuckled again.

"Don't worry, I haven't turned to anything illegal… yet."

The way Sage said that sent chills through all four of them.

"Well… your Aura's getting blue again. That's good." Shepherd said.

"Feeling better?"

"You could say that." Sage nodded.

"But not as good as I could be. You know why?"

No one knew of course, and only looked at Sage with worry. Where was this going…?

"Because that bastard Sebastian is still walking around, having a good old laugh about not getting any f*cking jail time." Sage snarled.

Shepherd took a step back, seeing Sage's aura flare red.

"Sage… if you're planning on killing him… then I'm afraid we can't help you with that." Rory said, gesturing to him and the rest of the group.

"Kill him? Why would I kill him?" Sage asked.

"That makes me no better than him. No, I'm not going to kill him."

The group visibly relaxed. Well… except Shepherd. The Lucario could still detect… something in Sage. But it was hard to take a guess at what it was.

"Then what are you going to do?" Shepherd asked.

"I can see that you aren't going to just let him go."

Sage chuckled again. It wasn't reassuring this time.

"You're right. I'm not. So, you know what I'm going to do?"

The group stood there, the moon shining down through the park trees to give the area an ominous appearance.

"I'm going to kidnap him, and sell him to a slave trade." Sage smirked.

None of them had known what to expect… but it most certainly hadn't been that.

"Sage, man. You know how secretive these trades are? How are you even going to get in touch with one of them?" James asked.

Sage whipped out his phone, holding it up. It was on the dial menu, a number already input.

"When you dig deep enough, use the right connection and use the right browser, they're pretty easy to find." Sage said.

"I already told someone we're going to have an Ampharos slave for pickup soon. We just need to get him."

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa… WE?" Shepherd exclaimed.

"You want us to help you kidnap him!?"

"It's not like I'm asking you to help me kill him." Sage shrugged.

"Guys… he took Hiawatha from us. And he had a party to celebrate! You remember Hiawatha, right? I didn't just imagine him? That whistling he always did in the hallways? How he would always be right there beside you if you needed a little extra hand lifting? Seeing him in the sky on summer days? Am I the only one who misses him?" Sage asked.

Marco sighed.

"Come on Sage, you know we miss him too. But is this really the way to deal with thi…"

"Yes, it is. His rich parents bought him out of his consequences. And so WE need to make sure he faces them. And maybe having a little discipline in his life from whoever buys him will make him a better person. So the way I see it, we're doing everyone a favor." Sage said, arms crossed.

"If you don't want to help though, then I understand. Because I do seem to be the only one who remembers Hiawatha anymore, so I wouldn't expect much else."

 _"Kind of angsty tonight, isn't he?"_ Shepherd thought to himself.

"... we could get caught you know?" Shepherd said.

"Not if we're careful." Sage responded with a smirk.

"I mean, look at me. I'm not stealthy by any means. But you all have everything I need to pull this off. Shepherd, you can basically see through walls. James, you can fly. Rory… um… well, a little extra muscle doesn't hurt. And Marco, you've got sketch. We might need some adaptability with all this. You think you can go speak to Lily about getting Transform from her?" Sage asked.

"Actually, he's going by Brutus this week, but sure. I've never actually tried sketching transform from a Ditto before though… I don't know if it will work."

Sage hoped it would…

"We'll spend the week getting everything we need for this. This isn't some high security compound though. It's just a house. We'll have him out of there in no time." Sage smirked.

"Wait!" Shepherd objected.

"... we're taking him from his house?"

"Um… yeah?" Sage nodded.

"Dude, that's stupid and unnecessarily complicated. Why don't we just shadow him and get to know his weekly schedule, then one day, we grab him off the street?"

"Too risky." Sage said.

"There are street cameras and potential witnesses everywhere. Besides, we need to make it look like he ran away. If we grab him off the street, then people will ask questions. We take him right from his house, which is the last thing people would expect us to do, then we can easily make it look like he ran away."

Rory nodded.

"Makes sense to me."

"If it makes sense to Rory, then it has to be good." Marco smirked, earning a glare from Rory.

Shepherd however looked uncertain.

"I'm… I'm sorry guys. I… I don't think I can be a part of this."

All eyes turned to Shepherd.

"I mean… my parents would see my aura and figure something's up. I think… it's best if I just stay out of it."

Sage nodded.

"It's fine, Shepherd. I'm not forcing you to do anything you don't want to. As for the rest of you guys…"

Sage turned to the others.  
"We'll spend the week getting ready. And next Friday, we grab him… and then we sell him off."

Sage got home pretty late, but at the very least his parents didn't question where he'd gone last night. With the way he'd been the past few days, they understood that their son occasionally needed some time to himself.  
The next morning though, he spent some time setting up a few more things.  
First, Sage bought a good couple rolls of silver duct tape. It was perhaps his second favorite means of restraint.  
Second, Sage got back into contact with the potential buyer for Sebastian.  
He drove out to the parking lot of his school (empty for the weekend) before dialing in the number he'd gotten. With how precious it was to his plan, Sage had pretty much memorized it at this point.

"Hello, this is J&R slave trade services, how can I help you today?" A cheery voice greeted.

Sage's heart was pounding. He had made up his mind about selling Sebastian to these people… but they were slave traders. Sage was half afraid he'd end up on an auction block somewhere if he didn't back out now.

"Hello?" The voice asked again.

"Uh, yes. This is Sage Simmons. I called before about selling someone to you." Sage said, already starting to sweat with anxiety. His biggest fear was getting kidnapped, but his second biggest fear was someone figuring out what he was doing. Maybe he should have gone in alone on this?

"Sage Simm… ah, here you are. An Ampharos from rich blood, right?" The voice asked.

"Yes, that's right. I'm calling to set up a date and location of pickup." Sage continued.  
"This upcoming Saturday night for the date. Riverside Park in Rustboro City. 12:30 in the morning."

There was the sound of typing on the other end of the phone before the voice came back on.  
"Alright. Anything else, sir? We're currently offering a fine selection on half-off slaves."

"No thank you. I'm fine." Sage blushed. It was actually a pretty tempting offer for the dominant Sceptile, and had he been in a better state of mind, he might have accepted it.

"Alright. Have a nice day sir." The voice said before the phone was hung up on its end, leaving Sage listening to the beep of a dead line.

The last stop Sage made for the day was a place he knew he should have gone to the day after Hiawatha's accident.  
Hiawatha's house.  
Sage was currently in the driveway, just watching the house. He knew that speaking with Hiawatha's devastated parents was the right thing to do… but he couldn't bring himself to do it. What if they blamed him for not being there? What if they just screamed at him to go away when he rang the doorbell and they opened it up to see who it was? Or worse… what if they convinced him to forgive Sebastian?  
That was something Sage was afraid of happening. That his drive for justice against the Ampharos would fizzle out and die with the words of a few.  
Steeling himself, Sage pushed open his car door, his feet padding against the ground as he approached the front door, giving the doorbell a ring.  
Sage could just barely hear the creak of a spring sofa as its occupant got up and approached the front door.  
Sage actually wondered if this pounding in his chest was worse than when he'd called the slave trade.  
The click of the lock made Sage jump a little as the door was pulled open, revealing Mr. Hiawatha.  
The Braviary was younger than his own dad… but the last several days had taken their toll on him. He looked almost a decade older than his dad now.

"Hello, Mr. Hiawatha." Sage nodded, trying to keep his cool.  
"I… know I haven't spoken with you in a while… not even at the funeral… but I wanted to check up on how you and Mrs. Hiawatha are doing."

The Braviary sighed.  
"Please… come in." He said, stepping aside to let Sage in. Sage nodded, stepping through the doorway into the house.

Despite the complete lack of clutter in the house, the atmosphere felt cramped and crushing.

"Please, sit. I'll bring us some drinks. Is tea fine?" Mr. Hiawatha asked.

"Yes sir, it's fine." Sage nodded, taking a seat while the tired Braviary walked off.

Sage looked around the living room as he waited for Mr. Hiawatha to come back. There was a layer of dust over everything, as if no one had bothered to vacuum or even dust since the incident.  
An empty canine bed sat against one corner of the room, accompanied by an equally empty food and water dish. Also with dust…

"Oh, I didn't know we had company."

Sage turned towards the voice, seeing Hiawatha's mom had walked into the room from down the hall.  
"Hello Mrs. Hiawatha." Sage greeted. And he'd thought Mr. Hiawatha had looked bad…

"Sage? I didn't know you'd be stopping by today." She smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry I didn't call ahead. I just saw your house… and I realized I hadn't spoken with you at all since the accident, and I just wanted to make sure the two of you were ok." Sage explained once more.

She walked further into the room, sitting down in an armchair next to the seat Sage had chosen.  
"Sorry you had to see me like this." She apologized.  
"If I'd known you were coming, I would have cleaned up a little."

"No no, it's fine." Sage assured. His attention drifted back towards the empty pet bed.  
"I didn't know HIawatha had a pet."

Mrs. Hiawatha looked towards the pet bed with a sigh. This depression in the air was almost too much for Sage…  
"Flinch. He was a Growlithe. We got him for Hiawatha two years ago. But after he… well… Flinch stopped eating. He died two days ago from malnutrition."

Sage couldn't believe this. This family had been completely torn apart by a selfish bastard of an Ampharos…  
But Sage was going to make things better.

Hiawatha's dad slipped silently back into the room, several ice glasses and a pitcher of tea in hand. He set them on the table before taking a seat close to his wife.  
But no one made to touch the drinks.

"Is there anything of Hiawatha's you'd like?" Mr. Hiawatha eventually asked.

"Me, sir?" Sage asked. Of course it was him who was being addressed, but the request sort of caught him off guard.  
"Oh no, I couldn't. His stuff belongs to you now."

"If you don't want it, then it will go away soon." Mr. Hiawatha said.  
"We're selling his stuff so we can raise money for a memorial that we're going to build in his room. Well… not all his stuff. Just the small items."

"Well…"  
Sage thought. Was there anything of Hiawatha's he wanted for sentimental purposes?  
"... just a photograph would be nice."

"Alright. He actually kept one of the two of you in his room. It's yours." Mr. Hiawatha said, standing and walking down the hallways to Hiawatha's old room, leaving Sage and Mrs. Hiawatha alone.

Sage, wanting to break the awkward silence, tried to engage in some form of conversation with her.  
"Is there anything else I can do for you two? I mean… you supported our relationship from before even my parents knew about it. And Hiawatha meant the world to you."

Mrs. Hiawatha seemed to be struggling with her emotions.  
"... there's nothing you can do." She said, her voice cracking a little.  
"That… devil that killed our son is still on the streets… and there's nothing we can do about it. There's no… no… there's no justice in this world!"  
She broke down crying, sobbing into her wings.

Mr. Hiawatha came back into the room just in time, setting the picture he'd brought on the table before making to comfort his wife.

"Damn him… damn that bastard…" She sobbed.  
"It should have been him… not my baby…"

Sage just stood there, not sure what he needed to do here…

"Sage… I think you should go." Mr. Hiawatha said.  
"We're not mad at you though. Your visit was very welcome."  
A half smile graced Mr. Hiawatha's face at this.

Sage just nodded at this, taking the picture.  
"Thanks for your hospitality."  
Holding the picture close, Sage left the sobbing Mrs. Hiawatha as tried to comfort her.

Sage didn't stop walking until he got back in his car, taking a deep breath once he was safely inside.  
At least one thing had come from this visit. He was more determined than ever to make sure Sebastian got what he deserved.  
Actually… he got two things out of this visit.  
Sage looked to the picture in his hand.  
It was fairly recent. The first day of their current year. Sage and Hiawatha were standing in front of the latter's car, arms around each other in a side hug.  
Sage remembered this one. Laura from photography had taken this one for them. She'd been out photographing for the yearbook for first day photos.  
Seeing this picture though… it just brought back all the hurt.  
But maybe, once Sebastian was dealt with… Sage would be able to look on it with fondness.

~~~~~~  
Several days later…

The week had crawled by for Sage. Even sitting through one class had been agonizing for him. Sitting through an entire days of classes had been the cruelest of tortures.  
Sage was nervous. He wondered if maybe someone had tipped off police about what he was planning? And if Sebastian suddenly did disappear… he would likely be under heavy suspicion. Well… Hiawatha's parents might be priority on that list… but Sage would be the second most likely suspect. He only hoped that none of this would be traced back to him…

"Sage, you ready?" Rory asked, the entire car shifting as he did. It wasn't designed with Hariyama approved suspension…

"Yeah… I'm ready." Sage nodded.  
"Alright Marco, you know what to do. You CAN'T mess up your transformations."

THe Smeargle nodded. He'd sketched Transform from a Ditto at school, as he'd been instructed to do. He had the two forms he needed to pull this thing off. A Porygon, a Haunter, and Sebastian's own dad. Of course, the Smeargle had never used a move like Transform, and his attempts at it over the week had been… spotty. A mix of both successes and failures.

The plan was simp… well, not simple.  
Marco was going to enter the house as a Haunter, transform into Sebastian's dad and enter the Ampharos's room, and paralyze him with a Thunder Wave. They had of course originally planned to try Hypnosis, but it was too risky. The paralysis effect was guaranteed to last until something jarring hit the Pokemon suffering from it. Hypnosis induced sleep wasn't so reliable. There was always the off chance that Sebastian would wake up.  
Once Sebastian was rendered unable to move, Marco would open up the window to their captive's room, and James would fly up to help get Sebastian out. His room was on the second floor though… so they would slide him down the roof, and into the waiting arms of Sage and Rory. Then, on the drive to the meeting point, Marco would shift into a Porygon and shut down any traffic cameras they passed.  
It of course had occurred to the group that with a Porygon on their team, they could have gone with the original scenario of grabbing Sebastian off the street, but that still left the risk of a witness. No, this plan was the best they had.

"Alright Marco, you're up." Rory said, punching the Smeargle in the shoulder.  
"Go get em."

The Smeargle, rubbing his shoulder, nodded.  
"If I go to jail for this… I blame you." Marco said, looking right at Sage.  
"But I want this guy taken down a few notches as much as you, so…"

Closing his eyes, Marco began to glow in a dim white light before his entire form began to shift…  
And when the glow died away, he was a fairly handsome anthro Haunter.  
"My clothes are going to go with me when I phase through the house walls… right?" He asked.  
"I mean, we've had pretty mixed results before."

"Just focus on phasing them through with you, and things should be fine." Sage said. He was already sweating nervously in fear of this going wrong.

"Easy for you to say. You have any idea how hard it is to try and make something not a part of you part of you?" Marco grumbled, pushing open his car door before slipping out onto the street.  
It was midnight now, so everyone was already inside, and likely asleep. So long as they kept quiet, there would be no witnesses.

Sage and the others watched Marco go.

"It's… not too late to call this off." James said, his metal feathers scratching against each other as he shook nervously.

"I'm not calling it off." Sage said plainly.  
"This guy is going to get what's coming to him, and that's that."

And as Sage saw Marco phase through the wall of the house, a smile lit his face.

Sebastian let out a loud belch, tossing the beer can aside before looking back to his laptop as the movie he was watching was drawing to a close.  
His dad didn't seem to mind the fact that he would often drink about two of those a night. Even if it was illegal…  
Once the movie was over, Sebastian popped open his laptop's disc tray before removing the movie, soon placing another in. He usually stayed up late like this on weekend nights after he'd home from partying, just relaxing in his bed, stripped to nothing but his underwear, and downing booze.  
Before he could start up his next "movie", Aliens vs. Sexual Predators (he did not have good taste in "movies") there was a knock at his door.  
Groaning audibly, the Ampharos took off his headphones.

"What!?" He shouted, not caring who was asleep in the house. He hated it when his parents shoved their noses where they didn't belong.

"It's me." An… odd sounding voice said.

"Who?" Sebastian asked again, visibly grumpy.  
"The door's f**king shut. I can't see you."

"Your dad?" The voice repeated.

"What do you want? And why does your voice sound like shit?"

"Allergies." His dad said.  
"Can I come in? I need to talk with you about something."

Sebastian growled loudly, making sure his dad knew how inconveniencing he found this.  
"Sure." He eventually said, closing his laptop.

The door opened, and there was his dad. He looked pretty troubled about something… but Sebastian didn't care.

"Why's it so hot in here?" His dad said, walking towards the window and opening it up to let a breeze in.

"Hey, I don't want that open!" Sebastian snapped.

His dad ignored him, proceeding to walk over and sit on the edge of Sebastian's bed.  
"I just wanted to tell you something is all." His dad said.

Sebastian looked at the Ampharos oddly.  
"What… are you wearing?" He asked.

He glanced down at himself, seemingly surprised about his almost juvenile dress.  
"I… just threw these on to go check the… sprinklers." He said eventually.

"Well hurry up and tell me what you want to. I was just about to go to sleep." He lied.

His dad seemed to glare at him.  
"Well here, I can help with that."  
And without warning… his dad clapped both his hands to the side of Sebastian's head before unleashing a Thunder Wave.  
Sebastian didn't make a sound. How could he? He was paralyzed in an instant, falling back onto his bed, eyes wide with surprise.

"Arceus, that felt good." His dad said before he began to glow white, his form shifting into a Smeargle Sebastian had never seen before.  
The Smeargle walked over to the window, waving out of it.  
Sebastian was freaking out now. Who were these guys? He could only breathe and blink in his current state, but both were pretty hard to accomplish like he was.  
And if Sebastian was panicked now, he was terrified when he was the Smeargle wasn't alone. A Skarmory flapped up to the window before climbing into the room.

"Nice work." The Skarmory said, patting the Smeargle on the back.  
"Sage and Rory are waiting. Let's get this guy down there to them."

Sebastian would have shouted every swear word he knew at these two if he were able.

The two approached him, grabbing him by his shoulders and sitting him up in the bed. Sebastian tried in vain to lash out at them.  
Unfortunately...  
 _Sebastian is Paralyzed. He may be unable to move._

"Here he comes." Rory said, looking up at the bedroom window. Sage was scanning the streets, hoping desperately they weren't being seen…

"Get ready Sage." Rory said, the Hariyama raising his sizable arms up. Sage did the same as Sebastian's red bulb tipped tail appeared over the side of the roof, the rest of the Ampharos's rump appeared over the edge. Soon, his entire body was falling towards them, but with their combined strength, they provided him with a soft landing.

"Get him to the car." Sage hissed urgently, the two hurrying away from their house back to Sage's car. James was already in the air flying to join them, while Marco left the pre-written note of Sebastian's running away due to the guilt he felt about his killing Hiawatha. And once he secured a few items that Sebastian most likely would have taken with him had he run away, as well as tidying the crime scene up a little, Marco joined up with the group. And together, with their captive in the trunk of the car, they set off for the meeting point. Their plan had succeeded.

Everyone was emotionally exhausted by the time they got to the meeting place. James's feather were clacking uncontrollably, Marco was worn out from his transformations, and even Rory looked out of it, his face a little pale.  
Everyone was worn out from the job. Well… everyone except Sage. He seemed to be in pretty high spirits over the successful kidnapping.

"Oh Arceus… what if I missed something? What if they know it was us!?" Marco said.

"Calm down. There is no way they could trace it to us. You touched everything as Sebastian's dad. His fingerprints will be on everything, not yours. James didn't even have any fingerprints to leave." Sage assured.  
He checked his phone for the time. A few more minutes. He decided he'd best get Sebastian ready for the sale. Besides… he wanted a few words with the Ampharos beforehand.

"You guys feel free to stay in here." Sage said to them.  
"This is between me and him. I appreciate your help of course, and I'll make sure you all get some of the money."

"NO!" They all shouted in unison, appearing embarrassed afterwards.

"I mean… we're good." Rory said.  
"I… don't really want any money from this."

"Me neither." James agreed.

"I make plenty of money as an artist." Marco assured.

Sage understood where they were coming from here. They wanted to put this incident behind them.  
Sage got out of the car, walking around to the trunk and popping it open. The paralyzed and half nude Ampharos lay in the back, his eyes wide as he took in Sage.

"I guess you know who I am?" Sage asked.  
"Just blink twice if you do. Once if you don't."

But Sebastian only blinked once. He was just afraid of this Sceptile. He didn't actually know WHO he was…  
Sage grunted angrily, reaching into the trunk next to the Ampharos to pick up a plus size roll of duct tape. Sebastian's eyes widened even more at this. They hadn't bothered to bind him for this… so why now? What were they going to do to him?

Sage began to wrap Sebastian's limbs in the material. First, Sage bound his knees and ankles together in several thick layers, the tear of the tape sounding throughout the quiet park.  
Once that was done, Sage moved onto his arms, wrapping duct tape mitts over Sebastian's hands before tying his arms behind him in a box tie. And lastly, he made a tight tape muzzle.  
Once Sage was finished rendering the once high and mighty Ampharos completely helpless, he sat him up on the edge of the trunk… and slapped him across the face.

"MMMPH!" He yelped as his paralysis was broken by the slap.

"That hurt?" Sage asked, leaning in close to the face of Hiawatha's murderer.  
"I bet it doesn't hurt as much as getting, oh, I don't know… run over by a car?"

Sebastian's worried glance turned into a quizzical stare… then into an almost cocky grin as he finally realized who Sage was.

"Know who I am now?"

Sebastian nodded at this, that awful smug look plastered across his stupid face…

Sage grabbed Sebastian off the edge of the trunk, slinging him over his shoulder as he carried him further into the park. He was going to give this bastard one last chance to make an appeal before Sage sold his sorry ass to who he hoped would be the most awful, abusive master or mistress imaginable.

Sage carried Sebastian to the center of the park, setting him down on one of the benches before taking a seat next to him.

"Now, I'm going to remove that tape over your mouth. You try to shout for help, then I'm going to cut out your tongue." Sage growled, a glowing Leaf Blade extending from his arm.  
"Got it?"

Sebastian's expression faltered a little before nodding. He could see this Sceptile was very serious about all this.

"Good." Sage said before beginning to unwind the muzzle, tearing the last piece off forcefully.

"Ow! Damnit!" Sebastian yelped.  
"The f**k is your problem?"

Sage held his face close to Sebastian's, eyes filled with fury.

"You know what my problem is." Sage snarled.  
"You killed someone very close to me."

"Oh, come on! Get over that bird!" Sebastian scoffed.  
"I sure did."

Sage let out a louder snarl of rage, grabbing Sebastian around his neck.  
"What is your problem! You killed someone, and you don't feel a shred of guilt over it!?"

Sebastian couldn't answer though, due to the fact he was being half strangled right now. Seeing this, Sage begrudgingly slackened his grip.

"Hey, I didn't know that faggot." Sebastian coughed.  
"Maybe if I'd known him, I would have. But I didn't. The guy should've been watching where he was going."

Sage was currently resisting every fiber of his being telling him to slit the Ampharos's throat with a Leaf Blade and be done with him.  
"You know, I was afraid of you being a good guy. It would have made going through with what I had planned a lot harder on me." Sage sighed, beginning to shoddily re-wrap the duct tape around Sebastian's muzzle.  
"But thank Arceus you're a total pile of shit."

Sebastian just continued to smirk at Sage, thinking this Sceptile didn't have the guts to do anything to him.

"Someone like you should've gotten the life sentence for what you did. Let me guess, your rich parents bought the judge off?" Sage asked.

Sebastian all too happily nodded at that.

"Well, they may have bought the judge off, but someone else is going to buy you off. See, I'm selling you to a slave trade. You're going to spend the rest of your life in chains in some mon's basement." Sage said, a gleeful smile on his face as he relished how quickly Sebastian's cocky grin faded away, replaced by one of absolute horror.

"I'll be honest, if you'd turned out to be a decent person, I would have gone back on all this. But that ship has sailed. Your seller is going to be here any minute now, then you're out of my life."

"Actually, I'm already here."

Sage started a bit, turning to see that while he'd been distracted, a Cofagrigus had at some point drifted up to eavesdrop on the conversation.  
"And might I say, wow. This is the first case of a grudge sale I've ever seen. Such drama. Such sheer emotion. I love it!" He smiled, walking over to Sage and extending his hand.  
"Don Capilari, at your service."

"Sage Simmons." Sage responded, accepting the handshake.

"So, I take it you want this mon to end up somewhere rather unpleasant?" Don smirked.  
"Even I find him despicable, and I just met him."

"Yes, I do." Sage said, glaring at Sebastian, who seemed to have gone into shock at what was happening.

"Well, we have plenty of openings for electric types. Most find them to be a wonderful source of bill-free power." The Cofagrgigus chortled.  
"I'm certain he'll sell fast."

The slave trader strode over to Sebastian, who kicked and swore in hind bindings.  
The Cofagrigus extended one of its ethereal hands towards the Ampharos, placing it on his forehead. White wrappings spiraled down the arm of the ghost coffin, beginning to wrap around Sebastian. Though he struggled and even tried to stand, his efforts were in vain. In only minutes, a white, finely wrapped mummy lay where Sebastian was, his protests reduced to practically nothing.

"And now, for your payment." The trader said, extending one of its hands towards Sage. The Sceptile tensed up, thinking he'd been double crossed and was about to meet the same fate as Sebastian. But he opened the large hand up to reveal a small envelope.  
"A check for $1,000 is enclosed inside. Feel free to open it and check if you'd like." The Cofagrigus smiled.

Sage did just that, and felt his heart skip a beat as he took in that there was indeed a check for the specified amount enclosed inside.

"I'm surprised one as young as you is an independent slave wrangler." The Cofagrigus continued.  
"Perhaps you might enjoy coming to work directly for me?"

"Thanks, but I'm not planning to make a career out of this." Sage said, putting the envelope in his back pocket.

"A true shame. Well, here's hoping that we don't meet again with you in his place." The Cofagrigus said, pointing to the still struggling mummy.  
"Well, I must be off now. Tata, Mr. Simmons."

Hefting Sebastian over his shoulder, the Cofagrigus set off into the night, soon disappearing into the darkness.  
Once he was gone, Sage let out a breath he'd been holding in. He'd done it. He'd actually done it.  
The Sceptile felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off him. Hiawatha's killer was finally gone. Serving a sentence of Sage's own making.  
For quite possibly the first time since the accident, Sage smiled.

Several Years later…

"Sage Simmons, majoring in engineering."

The buff Sceptile stood from his seat, the crowds around him clapping as he walked to recieve his diploma.  
Four years at Mauville University had certainly been rewarding to him. He now had a bachelor's in engineering, something he'd decided he'd pursue during his final year of high school.  
Sage smiled as he saw his parents standing in the crowd. To everyone else, he was just another guy graduating this year, but to them, he was THE guy graduating this year.  
After Sage received his diploma, the rest of the ceremony went by fairly quickly, and by the end of the night, Sage was back home, lying in his bed with his cap and gown hanging over his computer chair, his diploma on his dresser.

He hadn't realized he was drifting off until a knock at his door snapped him out of his half dozed state.

"Come in." Sage yawned tiredly, rolling over to face the door.

In walked his dad, a proud smile on his face.  
"So, when are you planning on moving out?" He asked.

Sage just sort of stared at him until his dad broke out in chuckling.  
"I'm kidding." He smiled.  
"But I am wondering, you've got this degree in engineering. What are you going to do with it?"

Sage sat up in his bed, stretching his arms.  
"Engineering stuff. There's plenty of companies out there looking for workers. Especially guys that can actually lift the machines."  
Sage was the best of both worlds. Brawn and brains.

"Think you'll stay around here?" Sage's dad asked.

Sage knew this question was coming.  
"Well… I've looked around Hoenn for possible jobs here, but it's either oil or slaving away making the next generation of tablets and smartphones. I guess I'm more wanting to do something like medical equipment, or maybe even aircraft." Sage said.  
"More mechanical, less technology. If that makes sense…"

"Well, there goes my suggestion." Sage's dad said.  
"I heard Lysander Industries in Kalos is hiring right now, but they're mostly tech."

Sage's dad's words weren't lost on the Sceptile.  
"Wait… you'd be ok with me moving out of Hoenn?" He asked in surprise.

"Of course. We're not going to force you to stay here. You're twenty three now for Arceus's sake."

Sage nodded at that.  
He'd saved up a LOT of money working part time, and was set to live a good five months out of his own apartment without any work. And he wasn't planning on being without work for more than a week.  
Living at home had been a good financial move, and his parents had graciously helped pay for his college tuition. He was ready to start out on a new life. A life on his own.

"Well, Kalos does sound appealing." Sage said.  
"I was thinking either that or Unova."

"Not sure how I feel about you moving to Unova." Sage's dad frowned.  
"Not with those crazy Pokemon rights activists all over the place there."

"Fine. No Unova." Sage chuckled.  
"But I won't be going anywhere until I at least find some available jobs in that region."

The conversation done with, Sage's dad stood.  
"I'm proud of you, Sage. For doing all you've done."

Sage smiled back. And for some reason, memory of a certain Ampharos surfaced for a brief moment with the way his dad worded that…

"You get some rest now. You've earned it." Sage's dad said, patting his son on the back before stepping towards the door.  
"Love you."

"Love you too dad." Sage waved back before his dad stepped out of his room.  
As soon as he was gone, Sage rocked himself out of his bed, sitting at his computer.  
He quickly looked up an article on the Kalos region in his browser's search bar, navigating to some traveler's website.  
It contained information on the cities, the attractions, the local Pokémon battle league for trainers…  
Sage rose an eyebrow at the end of the article though.  
In bright red letters, the words "Traveler's Caution" were written out. Intrigued, Sage read on.

"Travelers be cautioned. Kalosian law does allow for the sale and ownership of slaves. As such, a slave trade industry does flourish in this region. While not endorsed by the Kalosian government, it is overlooked by it. Travelers to the region are cautioned to travel in groups. If any in your group are found missing, please report to the nearest law enforcement official and they will assist in the location of…"

Sage stopped reading, the rest just going on to discuss other warnings and how to best handle them should something happen.  
Needless to say, this talk of basically legal slavery intrigued him.  
Even without Hiawatha, Sage hadn't lost his kinky nature. In fact, he'd had quite a few bondage partners during his time in college. And the thrill he felt at having power over someone like that was not lost on him. He LOVED having someone tied up and at his mercy.  
HIs mind then drifted to how much Sebastian alone had gotten him.  
Granted, he knew that making a career out of something like that was stupid and risky. But as a pastime? Sage figured he would need something to unwind after a day of working at… wherever he was planning to. Kalos was the most high tech region around. Surely, somewhere there, there would be a job for someone as mechanically gifted as him.

~~~~~  
Two weeks later…

An Infernape gave out a huff as he set the box down. Fighting type or not, it was one heavy box.  
The dorm he'd been staying in while attending Mauville University was now spotless, save the massive pile of boxes containing items he'd brought with him. Clothes, computer stuff, etc. His roommate had finished moving his own stuff out just yesterday. The Infernape was quite happy he'd never see that slob of a Snorlax again.

The Infernape was snapped out of his thoughts by a knock at the dorm door.

"I know, I know. I'm supposed to be out tomorrow!" The Infernape said in annoyance, walking over to the door to open it. He half expected the dorm overseer to be there to again remind him he had to be out by tomorrow.  
But it wasn't the grouchy old Electivire standing there.

"Is that any tone to take with me, gimp?" A tall, buff Sceptile smirked down at him.

"Sage! I mean, Mr. Simmons! I didn't know you'd be coming today." The Infernape blushed and stuttered.

"Well, I thought I'd pay you one last visit. In a week or two, I'm afraid you and I won't be getting to hang out anymore." Sage said, stepping through the doorway.

"Why's that?" The Infernape asked.  
"We only live about an hour's drive from each other."

"That drive's about to get a lot longer. And harder to make." Sage chuckled.  
"I'm going moving to Kalos soon. Gonna be working as an engineer for a pretty high end company there."

The Infernape sighed a little at that. He'd been enjoying his time "hanging out" with Sage.

"Turn that frown upside down, gimp. I'm here for one last session with you." Sage smirked.

The Infernape perked up at that.  
"R-really!?" He exclaimed happily.  
"You'd pick me out of everyone else you dominate?"

"I've already visited everyone else." Sage laughed.  
"I like to save the best for last. Now out of those clothes and into that suit I bought you."

"Oh… well, I already packed it." The Infernape chuckled sheepishly.  
"Sure we can't just go with my…"

Sage growled menacingly at the Infernape before he could offer any more protest.  
He scrambled to find the box he'd packed the black rubber fetish suit he'd been given, cutting through the tape with his fingernails until he found it.

"Now strip." Sage ordered.

The Infernape pulled his shirt and pants off, throwing them aside before trying to quickly get into the suit.

"All the way, gimp." Sage said, waggling his finger.  
"No half-assing it here."

Blushing brightly, the Infernape removed his last garment, his boxers, before getting into the suit. It fit tightly against his already lithe frame, his chest muscles moving beneath it as he worked on getting his body sealed inside. The squeak of the suit filled the room as his rubber encased legs rubbed against each other. And after several minutes of this, the Infernape always having had difficulty dressing himself in the suit, he was ready. His body shone in the low light, every curve of his body visible under the shining black rubber.  
"That's better." Sage laughed, walking over to the suited Infernape, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a familiar item. An average sized, red rubber ballgag.  
It was covered in teeth marks from all the mon who had worn it before. Sage of course kept it clean, but he liked to use it because it showed his bondage buddies just how many others had worn the gag before them.

"Oh come on. What if the dorm overseer comes in? The suit's easy enough to explain, but that gag?" The Infernape protested.  
Sage answered the protests by shoving the gag into the Infernape's mouth, buckling it behind his head.

"Three years of this, and you still haven't learned when it's not up to you what happens." Sage chuckled, patting the Infernape's cheek.

The Infernape only blushed brightly, looking in admiration at Sage. He'd certainly miss this.

"Alright. We have about… four hours before I have to head back. So, I'm going to make those hours count." Sage grinned evilly, his hand giving the Infernape's excited bulge a squeeze.

The Infernape let out a muffled yelp of surprise and pleasure as Sage pulled him like that towards the couch.  
The suit just squeaked louder as he was pulled like this before being forcibly pushed onto the couch by Sage. The Infernape was LOVING this treatment right now.  
Sage sat next to the Infernape, his hand never releasing the Infernape's pleasure point.

"Still as easily excitable as ever." Sage scoffed.  
"It's almost pathetic, really. What, can't resist a big strong Sceptile owning you like the gimp you are? You're supposed to be the stronger one here." Sage taunted, his other hand rubbing all over the Infernape.

And the Infernape only moaned in response to this taunting, loving every second of it.  
And he'd love all 14400 seconds of it, just like he'd loved every second of his time with Sage over the past three years. And this Infernape wasn't the only one who Sage had helped come to find enjoyment in bondage. And he wouldn't be the last either.

~~~~~  
Three years later…

Sage let out a happy moan as he bit into the large Oran berry, the juices falling onto the grassy ground of the park. He needed to go to that vendor more often. He had some freaking good berries for sale.  
Sage's eyes were hidden beneath the mirrored sunglasses he wore, but his eyes followed a passerby jogging through the park.  
A Zangoose, young but not too young, fit, and some lustrous fur on him. But Sage decided not to try and get this one. He'd seen the flash of a silver necklace on his neck, and no guy as masculine as him would buy something so feminine. No doubt a gift from a girlfriend. Sage didn't want to break up a couple for some cash. Of course, he could be wrong about his assumption and he'd just passed up a prime sale. But this was Kalos. There were plenty of potential slaves to pick from.

Three years Sage had been living in Kalos now. He'd secured himself a job at a local up and coming business known as Blackshine Industries, working on their sensory deprivation therapy department, helping to build the more delicate features of the machines that couldn't be made by automated process, as well as helping to improve on existing machines. At $32.50 an hour, Sage was getting paid very well. And his captures were giving him a little money on the side to play around with. He had a rule though of one capture a month. Any more, and he was worried he might draw attention to himself. Overlooked or not, kidnapping was a crime. But he made sure all his captures were plenty willing by the time he sold them. He liked to train them himself, as that made them worth even more to the trades.

Sage's eyes drifted upward again. A female this time, a Servine, had sat in one of the park bench's, adjusting the glasses that sat crooked on her face before starting to read a book.  
Sage was ALMOST tempted to nab her. He usually didn't go for females, but she looked like she'd fetch a nice price. But there was an air about her that made him realize she'd be way too hard to break to be worth it. He doubted he would ever get someone like her to willingly accept bondage slavery.

A shame too, as he'd been planning another visit back to Hoenn.  
Last month's slave had got him a cool new sound system. The one before that had helped him pay for quite the collection of bondage gear, which he kept in one of the rooms in the fancy penthouse he was staying in. And the one before that had helped him go out to eat at one of Kalos's finer restaurants, the rest of the money going into savings. And almost eight months before that, Sage had visited his home town.  
His parents were very well off, his dad close to retirement. Sage had spent almost two weeks with them before going back to Kalos.  
While there, he'd checked in with Hiawatha's parents. The two of them were at peace at this point. They were perplexed as to the disappearance of Sebastian, but had believed the official story that he had run away out of guilt.  
And Sage had visited Hiawatha's grave again, half expecting to see him there as a Gengar like he promised.  
Sage had waited all this time for some sign from Hiawatha that he'd come back as a ghost type, but still nothing. But Sage would wait as long as it took. Sure, he'd had some fun on the side with his slaves, but he was completely loyal to Hiawatha.

Deciding the park wasn't the place for hunting today, Sage pushed himself off the tree he was leaning against, walking out of the park onto the streets.  
It was dusk, the sky orange as the sun had all but disappeared behind the buildings. This was Sage's favorite time of the day. And evidently, due to the increase in activity, it was everyone else's too. Most were off work, it was cooler, and the entire city looked so much better. Plus, all the shadows the buildings cast were perfect for Sage. As large as he was, he still had a Sceptile's natural grace. Just not speed.

Sage kept his eyes peeled beneath his sun glasses, observing every passerby he saw. A few of them he'd actually run into before, but he was saving them for later. He'd let them live their lives for now.  
As the door to a grocery that Sage often frequented opened up, and a Pokemon stepped out onto the street, Sage's eyes fixed on them, and a smirk grew on his face. He'd decided, he'd found his next capture.  
The Pokemon in question was a Noivern. Not anything special physical form wise. He wasn't athletic, though he also wasn't out of shape. That's what Sage envied flyers for. Their preferred method of conveyance did remarkable things for their health.  
What did catch Sage's eye was the fact this Noivern was a shiny. Sage had only ever sold five of those in his time as a slave wrangler, and they fetched nearly triple what a normal slave did.  
The Noivern was weighed down with grocery bags, but was doing a good job of holding them. With his arms incapacitated though, Sage knew he'd make an easy capture.  
The Noivern set off down the dusk lit street, the tails of the long brown trench coat he wore flapping behind him with each step. Sage rose his eyebrow at the lack of footwear on the dragon type, but decided he was in no place to judge. He wore flip flops in public half the time. Though right now, he wore confining sneakers, which he hated.

Adjusting his glasses, Sage set off at a brisk pace behind the Noivern. He just needed to wait for just the right shadow coverage, as well as open street. It was a good thing there were so many alleyways.  
But lady Victini must've been feeling particularly bitchy today, because luck was not on his side.  
A taxi cab screeched by on the street, punk rock blaring out of its speakers. The eyes of everyone on the street followed it, including the Noivern's. And his eye path following the cab resulted in him half turning around to continue following the cab, only to see Sage skulking behind him.  
Now, any normal person would have ignored Sage if he'd turned as well. But so set on his task of kidnapping the Noivern was he, the Noivern turned to see a large, imposing Sceptile acting unusually suspicious, having froze as soon as the Noivern made eye contact with him. Which was, of course, suspicious.

"... can I help you?" The Noivern asked, eyebrows raised.

Lucky for Sage, he was a quick thinker. And very charismatic.  
"I think the question here is, can I help you?" Sage asked with a smile.  
"Saw you lugging all these bags around, and thought to myself 'now here's a Noivern that could use some citizen assistance.' Not enough nice people in the world nowadays, am I right? So, come on. Let me help you out there with your load."

The Noivern's suspicious look disappeared following Sage's offer.  
 _"Boy, this one's naive. Good. Naive sells."_ Sage thought to himself.

"Yeah, I could use a little help." The Noivern said.  
"More with this bag than anything."

The Noivern held out on of his claws, which was hooked around the handles on a plastic bag containing a gallon of milk.  
"I'm about seconds from dropping this, so please take it."

Sage quickly grabbed the bag from the Noivern.  
"Your milk is safe." Sage chuckled as he took it.  
"Looks like someone's fixing a feast tonight."

That was a pretty true statement. The Noivern was loaded down with all sorts of things. Biscuit mix, spaghetti sauce, three pounds of ground beef. And that was just what Sage could see on the top of the bag.  
"Have a family waiting for you at home?"

The Noivern let out a snort of laughter at that before recomposing himself.  
"No, just a… roommate." He responded as he turned to continue his walk.

"Is your roommate a Snorlax or something? If so, then this isn't going to be enough to feed him." Sage said jokingly, reaching into his pants pocket to grip the syringe loaded with a tranquilizer. His pocket wasn't the best place to keep something that needed to be sterile, but Sage made sure to always give plenty of care to a puncture point from the syringe following an abduction.

"No, not a Snorlax. I just like to fix stuff for the week." The Noivern went on.  
"Thanks for the help, by the way."

"No problem. I'm all about helping people out." Sage smiled as he observed his surroundings. Alleyway coming up on the right, only a few people visible on the street, plenty of cover from the building's shadow. Yes, this would work. This Noivern was as good as his.  
"So, didn't catch your name." Sage said, trying to make idle conversation as they approached the kidnap point.

"I just go by Telokey." The Noivern said over his shoulder as they reached the alleyway.  
"What's yourmmMMPH!"

Sage tossed the milk he'd been carrying aside into the alleyway, one hand clamping over the Noivern's mouth and the other jabbing the syringe into his neck, pushing the plunger all the way down. Sage didn't know what was going through the Noivern's head to result in this reaction, but the guy was still trying to hold onto his groceries as Sage subdued him. Sage half wished he had a videocamera, it was so comical to watch.  
The tranquilizer acted fast, the Noivern's struggles growing weaker and weaker until at last, the groceries slipped from his hand onto the alleyway ground.

"Sorry pal. You'll thank me later." Sage said, patting the Noivern's face. Sage removed his own sunglasses, putting them onto the Noivern's face. It tended to help with cover for some reason. Especially when Sage used the cover story he usually did when he needed to use public transportation to get back to his place.  
Slinging one of the Noivern's wings over his shoulder, Sage walked his newest capture back out onto the street. A single passerby looked oddly at the duo across the street, but Sage just held up an imaginary bottle to his mouth, pretending to drink it before pointing to the Noivern with his thumb. The meaning was clear. The Noivern didn't know how to hold his liquor, and was passed out.

The passerby continued onward, ignoring the fact there were no bars in this part of town.  
Eventually, Sage got his captive to the nearest cab stop, hailing one down for himself. He got the Noivern into it before getting in himself, telling the driver where he wanted to go.

"Your friend ok there?" The Hypno driver asked Sage.

"Him? Oh yeah, he'll be fine. Keltotey here just doesn't know when to quit on the scotch." Sage said, completely butchering the name he'd heard the Noivern say before he'd knocked him out.

After a five minute drive, Sage was standing outside his high end apartment building with his newest slave. He was quickly buzzed in by the Porygon doorman, who wasn't one to question things like Sage always bringing in unconscious Pokemon. He got into the elevator, getting to his floor quickly enough and in no time at all, he had Telokey laying on his couch, unconscious.

"You're heavier than you look." Sage chuckled, more to himself than anything. He pulled one of his quick assembly bondage machine out from his closet, choosing a padded bondage horse for the Noivern.  
Now came the fun part. Dressing them for their new role.

Sage usually just cut right through whatever his victims were wearing with a Leaf Blade, but something about the trench coat just screamed "ANTIQUE", so Sage took it off him the usual way. Maybe it would net him even more money than a shiny Noivern already was going to?  
But once the coat was out of the way, Sage saw something odd.

"What the…?" Sage muttered. Under the coat, the Noivern had worn only a white t-shirt. Or so Sage had assumed.  
Shiny black sleaves ran out to the Noivern's wrists under the shirt. And underneath the white shirt's collar, an actual collar was secured around the Noivern's neck.  
Sage quickly cut away the jeans and white shirt his captive wore, revealing exactly what Sage had suspected. The Noivern had been wearing a full body rubber suit underneath his clothes.

"Oh Victini thank you." Sage smirked. He'd hit the jackpot. A shiny Pokemon… that was already into some kinky stuff! He'd have him trained in four days, tops!

"That saves me a lot of trouble." Sage laughed. He was glad he'd aimed well with the syringe. A little bit higher, and he'd have hit the collar, which looked to be made of some high end plastic/metal hybrid. There didn't look to be any way of getting it off…  
Sage would get back to that later. First, he needed to sterilize the puncture point.  
Fetching some alcohol and a cotton ball, Sage dabbed at the syringe's entry point until he was sure he'd sterilized it well enough. The Noivern shifted a little, letting out a groan. The tranquilizer was fast acting, but it also didn't last long. Maybe twenty minutes at most in the dose Sage administered.

"Welp, let's get you situated."  
Sage hefted the Noivern over his shoulder, carrying him over to the assembled bondage horse. Unlike the more intense ones, which had a wedge that the user would sit on, this one was padded so the user could sit a long while. And as far as Sage was concerned, this Noivern would be spending at least the next 24 hours on this thing.  
Sage sat him on it, bending his legs at the knees and cuffing them to the sides. Some simple handcuffs to keep his hands behind him and a ballgag completed the ensemble. The Noivern was slumped over on the horse, his chest rising and falling normally. He'd wake up soon enough. And Sage bet he'd be pretty happy to see that his fantasy was coming true.

Panic was the first thing Telokey felt as he finally regained consciousness and took stock of his situation. He was in an unfamiliar (and admittedly classy) apartment, tied up on a piece of gear he KNEW his master didn't own, and the sight of his tattered shirt and jeans made him worry about the fate of his grandfather's coat.

"About time you woke up." A voice said from behind Telokey. The Noivern twisted about as much as he could, seeing…  
His face instantly lit up in a blush. Standing behind him, a plate in one hand, was the largest Sceptile Telokey had ever seen. He almost thought he was looking at some new species of Pokemon at first. Every Sceptile he'd ever met had been thin, lithe, and tall. This guy got the tall part down, but not the rest. And what was more, he was wearing nothing but a tight, black rubber speedo. Telokey half wondered if he wasn't currently in one of his master's virtual reality scenarios…

"But hey, at least you gave me time to fix dinner for myself."  
The Sceptile picked up one of the items on the plate, pizza rolls from the looks of them, and popped it into his mouth.  
Telokey could already feel himself starting to drool behind the gag, feeling a little hungry himself despite his predicament.

"Want one?" The Sceptile asked, holding one up to Telokey before sighing.  
"Oh right. You're gagged." He said, eating it himself.  
"It's up to you whether or not you stay that way though."

The Sceptile set the plate down, walking around in front of Telokey. Even when he was bound on the bondage horse, the Sceptile was still pretty imposing height wise.

"You asked me what my name was, right? Well, now I'll finally tell you." The Sceptile smirked.  
"My name is Sage Simmons. Local slave wrangler. But I'm not like those other guys, who just grab Pokemon left and right. No, I have standards. And you fit all of them."

Telokey felt his heart skip a beat in fright. He really hoped this wasn't going where he thought it was…

"Now, you can guess how surprised I was once I got you here to find you were already all dressed up in a cute rubber suit of your own. And a collar to boot. Yeah, I know your type. You secretly want a master, don't you? To own you and dominate you. Well, I'm going to help you find one just right for you. Well… actually, whatever slave trade I sell you to will. But someone like you, you'll find a master in no time flat."

Telokey went ballistic. He began shouting through his gag, thrashing on the horse as he tried to make his point known. HE HAD A MASTER!

"Wow. I'm almost convinced you don't want to be sold." Sage chuckled, opening up a panel on the front of the horse, beginning to adjust a few of the settings for the tech in it.  
"There's no fooling me. Even if you don't realize it yet, you want a master. I've met a lot of people like you over the years, and by the end of the week, they were all pretty happy to get sold. You'll be no different."

And with that, Sage flipped the switch on the front of the horse.  
Immediately, the padded top of the horse began to vibrate intensely. Telokey, as opposed as he was to this situation, couldn't resist the pleasurable feeling the vibrations were giving him. He'd been conditioned pretty well by his master to respond to pleasure like this after all. Telokey bucked on the horse, still trying to talk, but the gag couple with his speech being broken by his own moans ensured that this was impossible.

"Don't mind me. I'm just going to sit back and watch this." Sage chuckled, walking over to his couch with his plate of food. He'd tease his captive later. Now was the time to just sit back and watch.

Telokey WANTED to make himself cry. He wanted to get this sadistic Sceptile to take pity on him, but… he couldn't! He was loving this torturously pleasurable experience too much!  
Telokey's moans filled the room as Sage just watched, finishing off his dinner.

"What did I tell you. You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Sage laughed, setting his plate aside.  
"You really are the whole package. I'll have to demand a higher price for you when I finally do sell you off."

Telokey whimpered, not wanting a reminder to the fate that awaited him.  
So many months with his own master, and now he was going to be sold off to someone completely different. If Telokey could've, he would've cried at this point.

"Let's kick things up a notch, shall we?" Sage smirked, walking over to the bound Noivern. He started off by rubbing his hands along Telokey's rubber clad chest, eliciting even louder moans from the Noivern. And these moans just kept getting louder as Sage's hands went lower and lower…

"Arceus, you are something else. Most would be begging me to stop at this point, which I wouldn't. But you're absolutely loving this."  
Soon, one of Sage's hands was squeezing Telokey's excited bulge, while the other reached around behind to grope his rear. It was all too much for him. And it just kept going on. Sage stood there, groping his newest captive for what felt like hours to Telokey, while time flew by for Sage.

But it soon came to an end for the both of them. A knock at the door put a stop to the fun.  
Sage had received such knocks before, tenants complaining about the noise from Sage's captives. But he usually covered the fact that the Pokemon moaning in pleasure were unwilling by telling the tenants they WERE willing. Most tended to accept this answer when Sage answered the door dressed as he was.  
"Coming!" Sage said, turning the vibrations just a little higher as he went to answer the door, preparing his story for whoever it was.

"Hello. Sorry about the noise, I have my boyfriend over tod…"  
Sage's recited speech was stopped by a metal fist.

With a cry of pain, the Sceptile fell backwards into his own apartment, his hands holding his snout as he groaned in pain.

"Telokey!" A voice that sounded like it was being projected out of a PA system exclaimed in relief. Sage just barely made out a Lucario form run by him towards Telokey.

"Mmmphrr!" Telokey shouted back in relief as his master, Xavier the robotic Lucario, began to remove the bindings holding him to the bondage horse.

"Yeah, come on in!" Sage groaned as he sat up, holding his snout. At least his Machoke strength bones protected him from breaking anything.

"Shut up and don't move, you bastard!" The Lucario snapped.

Sage soon realized that the Lucario who'd punched him wasn't any ordinary Lucario. It was a completely robotic one. For some reason, that rang a bell with him…

"He k-k-k-k-kidnapped me… he was g-g-going to sell me…" Telokey stuttered, the relief of seeing his master again hitting him like a bus.

"Don't worry, I've got you. You're safe." Xavier reassured.  
"Alright. Whoever the hell you are, you have one minute to explain to me why you thought kidnapping MY slave to sell was a good idea!"

Sage kept his cool in the face of this situation though. Yes, it was unexpected, but he'd get through it.  
"Look, I didn't know he was your slave." Sage said.  
"Chill out, why don't you?"

"You'll be chilling out in jail, you bastard!" Xavier snapped.

"Already used that one." Sage said.  
"You're a slave owner. You probably bought him from a trade, right? I'm the guy who helps supply trades with their products."

"For your information, I DIDN'T buy him from a trade. He came to me willingly." Xavier said.  
"And that still doesn't give you an excuse to just grab random Pokemon off the street just so you can make a few quick…"

"Xavier!" Sage suddenly said, snapping his fingers.  
"Head of Blackshine Industries?"

Xavier and Telokey both looked at each other, not sure where this was going.  
"... yeah." Xavier nodded in confirmation.

Sage stepped forwards, extending his hand.  
"Sage Simmons. Blackshine Industries, engineering department." He smiled.

Telokey and Xavier just stared at the hand being extended to them.  
"... you kidnap my slave… try to SELL him… and now you're trying to SHAKE MY HAND!?" Xavier exploded.

"It was an honest mistake." Sage shrugged, smiling sheepishly.  
"I guess it makes sense you'd own a slave. I've never worked for a company so passionate about rubb…"

"JUST… shut up." Xavier said, holding the metal hand he'd punched Sage with up in a stopping gesture.  
"... so you didn't know he was mine?"

"Not at all." Sage nodded.  
"And might I say, he's quite a good looking slave too."  
Sage ended that by winking at Telokey, who blushed and moved a little bit behind his master.

"Stop patronizing me." Xavier growled.  
"You're making it very hard for me to forgive you."

Sage just shrugged at that.  
"Your choice. But can I not get fired? I'd hate to lose this place, and the only way I'd be able to keep it is if I really ramp up on the kidnappings, and I'd hate to accidentally grab yours or someone else's slave again."

Xavier groaned, running his hands down his shiny blue chrome face.  
"... you keep your job, I keep my slave." Xavier said simply.  
"But if I find out this wasn't an accident, there isn't a bunker on this planet that'll keep you safe."

"It's a good thing I own real estate on Mars then." Sage said deadpan.

Xavier's LED eyes glared into Sage's soul.

"I'm joking. Lighten up." Sage said again.  
"Sorry for the inconvenience, mister Xavier. By the way, the groceries he was walking home with are in an alleyway on 22nd street, if you want to go pick them up."

"That better be another joke." Xavier growled, guiding Telokey over to the door.

"Nice meeting you!" Sage waved.

Telokey looked behind himself at Sage, the Sceptile blowing a kiss. Telokey quickly turned away again, following his master out the door, the robot Lucario slamming it shut.

Sage couldn't help but smile at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. Out of all the Pokemon, he'd kidnapped his boss's slave. This would make a great story to tell Hiawatha someday.  
Sage, still wincing from his hurt snout, reclined on his couch. But something on it caught his eye. A certain brown trench coat.

"Well, I guess its true. If someone does want a second date, they leave something behind." Sage chuckled.  
His eyes drifted over to the mantle above his TV, where the picture of him and Hiawatha rested. He'd certainly lived a full life. He only hoped Hiawatha was out there somewhere doing the same thing as a ghost type.  
Smiling to himself at the thought of Hiawatha being the source of paranormal activity across the globe, Sage relaxed into his couch. Maybe Hiawatha wouldn't mind if Sage saw that Noivern again someday. After all, Sage knew from experience that Hiawatha had probably already gotten it on with some buff ghost elsewhere at some point. Or maybe even a female ghost type? He had been bi after all.

Downstairs, as Xavier led Telokey back to the lab, he muttered under his breath.  
"What a grasshole."

* * *

Pokémon (c) Nintendo / Game Freak

And again, this is something he wrote. Don't worry about me. I've FINALLY got a few things to write.

Also, Sage is sorta kinda gay as heck. But you probably figured that if you read it.


	5. Watching for Comets

Watching for Comets

* * *

Sage sighed as he watched the robot Master and his shiny Noivern leave. He rubbed his face as he went to recline in his chair.

"That robot sure packs a punch."

"I'll say."

The sound of a second voice surprised Sage, causing him to look around. "What… who's there?"

"You don't recognize my voice? After so long, Sage? I'm a little disappointed."

Sage recognized the voice all right. It's a voice he'd never forget. But… it couldn't be him! He died years ago thanks to that stupid Ampharos!

"I've got to be imagining things." He concluded, trying to ignore the voice.

But the voice decided to make itself known. Like a ghost, someone seemed to 'phase' into the real world, right in front of Sage's recliner. The long-lost but familiar shape of a Braviary started to phase into existence.

"A Braviary?" Sage thought. "But… Braviaries aren't Ghost-types. They can't phase into view… unless… no way."

Sage's thoughts were confirmed, as the Braviary was now in full view… and it was someone he never thought he'd see again.

"HIAWATHA?!"

Sage stood up from his chair, in disbelief of what he was saying. Did Hiawatha… really come back as a Ghost-type? But how?

Sage didn't even waste time with any more questions, running up to straight up hug with his long-lost love.

"H-How is this possible? You're dead! I had always hoped you'd come back as a Ghost-type, but… I didn't think it could actually happen…"

Hiawatha was quiet, simply hugging Sage as he started to cry softly. Sage was almost never one to cry, but… this was just too much.

"Does this mean… that you can come back? To the mortal realm, in your body? Or as a Gengar or something? I don't care if you're a freaking Drifloon!" Sage asked.

Hiawatha shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sage. My time here is temporary. I got one visit here, and I knew I had to see you. Only those that Arceus deems to have important purposes get to go back as a Gengar or some other Ghost-type. And me… heh. It's not like I have some sort of destiny to fulfill. At this point, everyone's accepted my death. But the reason I begged Arceus for a visit was so I could tell you that you can move on from me, Sage."

Just as quickly as Sage was in disbelief of Hiawatha coming back from the afterlife, he was in disbelief of what Hiawatha was telling him now.

"But… why can't you come back? If you died of old age or something, I'd understand. But… that stupid Ampharos… that damn son of a bitch… he killed you! While we were in high school! It's not fair!" Sage screamed, his usual calm and collected cool being completely lost.

"I agree, Sage." Hiawatha replied calmly. "It isn't fair. But… it's how the world works. It's cruel, but I was killed. I'm in the afterlife now, and… I have to help you accept that. Don't lock yourself out of loving another just because I died so young."

Sage wiped away his small tears. "Is… is that all you wanted to say?"

Hiawatha shook his head. "No. I'm here for one more thing. As a spirit, I saw you on Senior Prom Night. You were there by yourself. You didn't dance with anybody. You missed out on that."

Sage chuckled sadly. "Can you blame me? The guy I would've spent Prom Night with was murdered by an Ampharos asshole."

"I want one last thing before I head back up to the afterlife. I want one final dance with you. I want to experience that."

Sage didn't even hesitate. Throughout all of Senior Prom Night, he had desperately wished Hiawatha was there. This was the chance he had to embrace him for the final time. And he wouldn't pass it up for the world.

"…Will I see you again?" Sage said, holding back tears as Hiawatha offered himself to dance.

"You will, Sage. You will when you enter the afterlife."

* * *

Time seemed to freeze as the duo danced. Nothing else mattered now. Just the soft footsteps of the two as they danced in the living room. While anybody else would've heard only soft footsteps, the sound of hauntingly beautiful music filled the ears of the duo.

* * *

Sage felt himself… crying? He was completely SOBBING now. But… he hadn't been this emotional since Hiawatha's death. Maybe because this was almost unreal. He was dancing with Hiawatha's ghost. Maybe because he couldn't have this love back. He knew he'd never see Hiawatha again until Sage himself died. He'd lost this once in a lifetime love, all because of that stupid Ampharos.

Sage laughed, trying to mask his tears while still dancing. "Look at me. I'm a total wreck."

Hiawatha only smiled softly, knowing what he could say to comfort him. "Do you remember the night we went watching for comets?"

"How could I forget?" Sage said, closing his eyes and recalling the memory. "We were both 15 at the time, and it was a big school event. Rayquaza's Comet was supposed to be soaring in the air that night, and it only happened every 200 years. That… that comet was gorgeous. I still have the pictures. Time just seemed to stand still that day."

"That's not what I'm talking about Sage. Do you remember what we said to each other when the comet soared past us?"

"I love you." The duo said in perfect sync.

"That was the day a lot of things changed for us. We came out to our parents, and even the whole school pretty much knew. But I suppose you becoming the star quarterback for the whole high school destroyed any sort of attempt at bullying." Hiawatha admitted, laughing.

"That, and I'm as strong as a Machamp." Sage smirked confidently. "I could've sent anyone flying six ways to Sunday."

Hiawatha smiled. "Now there's that cocky Sage I know and love."

Sage chuckled a bit… before sighing. "And I still love you. I wish I could just go with you if you can't come back… Maybe I…"

"Sage, I know how you were going to finish that sentence and I don't want to hear it. The absolute last thing I want you to do is anything suicidal."

Sage sighed. "I agree. You're right. I shouldn't even be thinking that way. But… if not you… then who?"

This time, it was Hiawatha who had a confident smirk on his face. "Oh, I don't know. Someone as kinky and submissive I am. But still a generally nice guy. He's a cute Dragon-type and a bit… batty."

Sage could connect the dots. "You mean that shiny Noivern? The one I tried to sell? The one whose Master punched me in the face?" he said, rubbing at his head again as he remembered the injury. Turned out that being hit in the face with metal hurt. A lot.

"Looks like you still have both your brains AND your brawn." The Braviary laughed.

"I'm not going to deny the idea's appealing. But… I don't think that Noivern would ever really forgive me for kidnapping him. And his Master DEFINITELY wouldn't." Sage sighed.

Hiawatha looked at the coat the Noivern left behind, never letting go of Sage as he led the dance.

"Well… who knows? I doubt he'd leave his coat behind if he wasn't interested in ever seeing you again."

"Yeah, he said it was his grandfather's. No doubt he'll be coming back for that."

"But… that still leaves the issue of his Master…"

Hiawatha smiled. "Trust me, Sage. It'll all work out."

Sage looked at Hiawatha suspiciously. "Do you get to see the future or something when you're dead?"

The Braviary laughed. "Something like that, yeah."

Finally, the dance ended. Sage wished that dance could've gone on for all eternity. A lack of sleep and food meant nothing to him if he could just dance it all away with Hiawatha.

Sage managed to finally wipe his tears away as well. "This is… still so unreal. I just danced with the ghost of my dead boyfriend."

"Not something you hear every day." Hiawatha joked. Even in death, he was similar to how he was in life.

"Before you go, Hiawatha… can I ask something?" Sage said curiosity.

"Yeah. Go for it."

Sage paused a little bit. Did he really want the answer to this? The answer that Hiawatha possibly found… someone ELSE to love in the afterlife? But… if Hiawatha was happy… that should be all that mattered, right? And it's not like Sage could be boyfriends with a dead guy. Still, a tinge of possible jealousy went through his veins.

"Did you… ever find some sort of boyfriend or girlfriend in the afterlife?"

Hiawatha smiled. "Yes. I have, actually."

Sage sighed, thinking to himself. _"Guess I shouldn't be surprised…"_

"But… she was more than OK with me coming down to see you." Hiawatha informed. "When you pass… of natural causes, no suicide shenanigans…"

Sage nodded. "Yeah, I got that. I promise not to."

"But… she'd like to meet you. She's a hell of a dom as well. My first time with her was… whoa. I mean… unforgettable. Let's just say that she gives you a run for your money, Sage." Hiawatha winked flirtatiously.

Sage laughed. "Well, if your predictions are right, I've got many more years to perfect my domming. By the time I die, you better be prepared to be dommed by me like never before."

"There's my Sage. I'm so glad to see you back to being… well, you."

A pillar of light appeared behind Hiawatha. "Well, that's the cue from Arceus. My time here's up. I better get going."

"Promise me one thing, Hiawatha." Sage said firmly.

"What would that be?"

"…Be sure to introduce me to ALL of your kinky friends when I get up there!"

Hiawatha laughed. "It's a done deal! Good-bye for now, Sage. We'll meet again in the afterlife."

The Braviary backed into the pillar of light. Hiawatha himself shone with a brilliant light before a blinding white flash forced Sage to shut his eyes. By the time the flash died down, Hiawatha and the pillar of light were completely gone.

Sage briefly wondered if he had just imagined the whole thing or had a hallucination. But something within Sage, whether it be faith, guts, or instinct, told him in no uncertain terms that what happened was indeed very real. He looked at the coat Hiawatha had motioned to.

"Looks like I have a coat to return."

* * *

 _Pokémon © Nintendo / Game Freak_

So yeah. This was something I REALLY wanted to write after getting the idea. This takes place immediately after the ending to "The Life and Times of Sage Simmons" and gives him a bit of character development to show that he's really a softie on the inside and not just a "Jerk Jock" kind of character.


	6. Date with a Slaver

Date with a Slaver

* * *

"Now we'll bend backwards into the Handstand Scorpion position, and be sure to keep yourself balanced."

"…How on earth do I bend back like that? I'm a Noivern, not a pretzel. Can our species even DO that?" a particular shiny Noivern said, before shrugging his shoulders and starting to lift his body up in the air in a handstand, hoping the class's earlier lessons of yoga would help him not break any bones…

…Which soon resulted in a 'flop' against the grass of the park, and much groaning from the Noivern.

"Gah… I really should've started with a beginner's course."

The bat Pokémon stood himself up, seeing the other Pokémon flex in what looked like impossible positions.

"Yeah… looks like I'll just sign up for the beginner class next time."

Unknown to the shiny Noivern, someone was standing just behind him. In fact, it was a particular Sceptile. He was thinking, unsure of what to say. After all, how do you try to return a coat to someone you tried to kidnap and sell into slavery?

"Umm… hey."

Maybe not the ideal words to use…

Telokey's fur stood on end, recognizing that voice as he turned around slowly and saw none other than the Sceptile that had caught me for the slave trade.

"G-Get back!" the shiny Noivern threatened, his voice very unconfident. "I-I've learned Heat Wave since we last met!"

"So you do remember me? Guess that makes sense. It's only been a week. But look… I'm not here to… kidnap you or anything." Sage said, toning his voice down since they were in public.

"…So why ARE you here?" Telo asked.

"…Well, I have something from my place that belongs to you."

The Sceptile took off the backpack he had brought, unzipping it. The Noivern had to wonder just what was inside, until…

"My grandfather's coat! I've been looking for that everywhere!"

Telo was quick to snatch the coat from Sage, happy to hold his grandfather's coat again.

"And… I'm here for one more thing." Sage said again. "I'm here… gosh, this is hard, but… I'm here to apologize."

"Yeah… I guess you do kinda owe me that." Telokey chuckled.

Sage sighed. "To you AND your Master. I know the stuff I do is in the legal gray area, but I should've given you the chance to explain yourself. You could've cleared that up right away and I would've released you. You don't deserve to be sold off when you have a Master that cares so much about you. So… yeah. I'm sorry."

The shiny Noivern smiled, eager to put it all behind him. "Apology accepted!"

"…Wow, just like that?"

The bat Pokémon shrugged. "Hey, I'm not one to hold grudges. If you're sorry, you won't kidnap me again, that's enough for me."

"Heh, thanks." Sage chuckled. "You know… you really are a great guy. Whatever girlfriend you have must be so lucky to be yours."

Telo blushed. "You… You think I have a girlfriend?"

"Why wouldn't you? Your cute body, your shy demeanor, your submissive leanings… I bet you have some sort of ultra-kinky dominatrix girlfriend that claims you as hers."

Telo's blush became a bright red, clearly embarrassed by the idea. "That's… one active imagination you have there. But… I don't have a girlfriend. It's a nice idea, though."

Sage thought for a moment. Maybe he had assumed wrong. "Boyfriend?"

"…No." Telokey said, wondering where this was leading.

"…Anybody?" Sage asked, a possible idea coming to mind.

"…Aside from my Master? Well… he's my Master, but I don't have any romantic partner." Telo answered.

"I see… Telokey, can you tell me… would you be comfortable going out with… a guy?"

"…Hold on a moment." The bat said, pausing the conversation. "You come back here, return my grandfather's coat, apologize for kidnapping me, and now… you're asking about my sexuality? That's… rather bold of you."

Sage sighed, realizing how stupid his advances sounded. "Sorry. I guess I'm trying to start again after… losing… my previous boyfriend. It… hurt me really deeply. I mean, that's no excuse, but… more of an explanation."

"Oh. Well… I'm sorry your previous one left you." Telo said, with Sage not feeling the need to correct his assumption. "To be honest… if you really want to know… I guess I'm kinda… flexible. I've dated a few girls, dated a few guys, but nothing really long-term. I guess I go either way."

"…I see. I suppose you know what I was trying to ask, then?"

"Yeah… kinda figured it out. But to be honest… I think I kinda like you. I mean, granted, you sorta-kinda kidnapped me… but it was a misunderstanding. And even during that… you were a really fun Dom. I liked what you did with me… really, it was more about the fact that you were going to sell me that kept me from completely enjoying it. So… maybe we could do some kind of first date thing?"

Sage smiled, this whole exchange going WAY better than he could've imagined. "Yeah. Yeah! That would be great!"

"Awesome, let's exchange our cell numbers…"

After a few minutes, they had each other registered in their cell phones.

"I'll talk to my Master about it." Telokey affirmed. "I'm sure he'll be OK with a date when I explain everything to him."

* * *

…

"Absolutely not."

"But Master…"

Telokey had just come back home, currently asking (or rather, begging) to go on a date with the hunky Sceptile he had met only a week ago.

"He's not a bad guy. Really!" the Noivern insisted. "He just…"

"I don't want to hear it." Xavier said, crossing his arms. "Telo, he kidnapped you. He was actually going to sell you to the slave market and now you want a DATE with him?!"

"…Well, yes but… But the thing is, he didn't know I was owned. You… You can't blame him for that." Telokey tried to defend the Sceptile's actions.

"Perhaps, but I can blame him for the fact that he still kidnapped someone I care about and never gave you a chance to explain yourself. It's a miracle that he talked me out of firing him."

"But…" Telokey stuttered, head hanging low. "…Don't you… want me to meet new Pokémon? Find someone nice for a relationship? I… I just want a chance to…"

"Telokey, you already know my answer. Stop asking. I'm not changing my mind. I don't want you to date him. Period. Just find… just find someone else. You shouldn't be with someone that was ready to sell you out to a slave market for a profit."

The shiny Noivern sighed, knowing he was defeated. "All right…"

* * *

…

Telokey laid back on his bed, not having much to do. Chores done? Check. Testing done? Check for the day. Had dinner? Check. 100% completed his favorite video game of all time for the 10th time? Extra check.

He looked at his phone. He HAD exchanged contact numbers with Sage…

"I suppose it would only be polite to break the news to him…"

Dialing the number, he waited for the Sceptile to pick up.

*ring*

*ring*

*ring*

*ring*

CLICK!

"Hello, Sage Simmons speaking."

"Hey, Sage." Telokey said, sadness evident in his voice.

It didn't take Sage long to deduce the correct conclusion. "Let me guess, that chat with your Master about me went south."

"Yeah… went south pretty fast." The Noivern sighed. "I'm pretty much forbidden from dating you. Or even trying a date."

On the other side of the line, Sage got a sly smile on his face. "…Did he explicitly say that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did he say the exact words 'you are forbidden from dating Sage Simmons'?"

"Well… he said 'I don't want you to date him'… but it means the same thing."

"Not quite." Sage said in a teasing tone. "You have to read between the lines, Telo. 'I don't want you to date him' is not the same as 'you are forbidden from dating him'. If he just said 'I don't want you to date him', that is NOT a rule forbidding you to date me. He disapproves, sure… but it's not a complete ban."

Telo… wasn't entirely sure about this. "…Wouldn't his disapproval be proof enough?"

"It's only proof that he doesn't WANT you to date me. But if what you say is correct, he didn't explicitly say that you COULDN'T date me. Right?~"

"That's… true, I guess." Telo realized, using Sage's suggestion as a rationalization. "It makes enough sense."

"Of course it does. Now you stay put, bat boy. I'll be at your place in 15 minutes."

"Wait, but how will you get-"

"I don't have to." Sage laughed. "You're a bat. You have wings. Fly down through your window."

Telo blushed, laughing a bit as well. "Oh yeah. Wings. I kinda forget that."

"Be right there."

The line hung up, with one big grin on the shiny Noivern's face…

* * *

…

"It's a good thing you reminded me about the whole 'I have wings' thing. Getting off the second floor to meet you is a breeze with them." Telokey smiled, meeting up with Sage. Sage had parked his car a block away to stay out of sight, with the Sceptile himself hidden in the shadows nearby.

"My former boyfriend was the same way." Sage smiled. "Sometimes, I'd be on the second floor and he'd fly up to deliver me flowers, like out of a cheesy romantic comedy."

"He sounds great, almost makes me wonder why you aren't seeing him instead of me." Telokey laughed jokingly… until he saw Sage's face drop a bit, closing his eyes and looking away.

"Oh… s-sorry. Did I say something?" he asked, feeling bad about upsetting his first date's feelings.

"I-It's nothing." Sage assured. "Don't worry about it. Let's get to Café Soleil. They've got a great choice of berry dishes that are practically to die… Uhh, well, they're just really amazing."

"Lead the way." Telokey smiled.

* * *

…

Soon enough, both Telokey and Sage were sitting down, dining at Café Soleil, picking their choices of food from the exquisite menu.

"Ooh… the ice-cold Yache Berry cake sounds delightful." Sage said, making his choice as he handed the menu back to the Luxray waitress.

"Hmm… I'll take the Grepa Berry lemon pie." Telokey decided, now handing his menu over.

"Of course, sirs. We'll be back in just a moment."

She left, leaving Telokey and Sage by themselves in the VIP suite Sage had ordered to dine in for privacy.

"So uh… nice suite." Telokey said, trying to start the conversation.

"It is, it is." Sage agreed. "You uh… make some nice money in my line of work."

A cold shiver went down Telo's back as Sage said that, reminded that he was close to being 'another satisfied customer'.

"Y-Yeah… but that's enough about that." The bat said, diverting the conversation away. "U-Uhh… why don't we get to know each other a bit more? Ask a few questions, you know. That kind of thing."

Sage smiled. "Fair enough. You first."

"Hey wait, I asked first."

"And that's why I think YOU should go first. Besides, I want to know about your juicy little slave life." Sage teased, getting a blush from the Noivern.

"U-U-Uhh… OK." Telo stuttered. "Well… you already know that I have a Master."

"A Master that can throw a good punch." Sage groaned, remembering the injury that Xavier had given him in a fit of rage. "Although, I don't really know… why is he a robotic Lucario? I mean… that's a little unusual, don't you think?"

"Master told me that he's actually one of Professor Sycamore's projects. It was sometime after the whole Team Flare thing."

Sage thought back. "I think that happened back when I was in junior high school."

"Yeah… Professor Sycamore had wanted to explore different avenues after he got his wanted results on Mega Evolution. So… he created Xavier. An AI that could think, live and want for itself. It's amazing, really. He's so lifelike that you sometimes forget that he's a robot."

"Interesting…" Sage mumbled… but one thing weighed in on his mind. "…But how the hell does a robot get a fetish for latex and bondage?"

"As far as I know, the whole thing was pretty unintentional and something of a freak accident. But… maybe Sycamore's own fetish for bondage rubbed off on him? Doesn't really matter to me, though." Telokey shrugged. "Regardless, we met about half a year ago and… things have been pretty good since then."

"Is it just you and your Master, or…?"

Sage was interrupted by the waitress coming in, slipping in and out silently with the dishes and left just as quickly as she arrived.

Telokey spoke up as Sage took a bite of his Yache Berry cake. "Well… for a while, it was just he and I. But then a homeless Blaziken kinda came into the picture, and the Blaziken's friend that was near death and had to be put into a robotic Greninja body… they're both pretty fine now, though… but it's a long story."

"I don't doubt it." Sage chuckled.

"So… what about you? What are you like? How did you get here?" Telokey wanted to know.

"…That's probably an even longer story." Sage laughed. "…But I'll do this to the best of my ability. You see… when I said that I 'lost' him… he didn't exactly leave me. His name was Hiawatha. He… died."

"…Oh. My." Telo paused. "I… didn't know. Gosh, my earlier comments must've made me sound like a giant asshole."

"No, it's fine. I didn't tell you. It turned out that the murderer was this stupid Ampharos, drunk the night he ran over my boyfriend. I wouldn't have even been mad if it was an accident… but that bastard had the damn guts to GLOAT about it. Gloat that he was bribed free of jail time. Gloat that he basically got away with murder. Gloat that he had absolutely no sympathy for it. And, well… he's how I got my start in the business."

"…You sold him as a slave?" Telokey whispered.

"Yes. And I still don't regret it. If the courts weren't going to punish him, I would. He's probably stuck as some Pokémon's desk lamp, which gives me a… somewhat sadistic feeling of satisfaction."

Telokey was now starting to feel… uneasy with Sage's complete nonchalance about the whole thing. "It's still… fishy. I mean, what he did was wrong, yes. But… what if whoever he was sold to treated him even worse?"

"Like I care." Sage scoffed.

"Even if he got sold to a snuff fetishist?"

Sage paused there. "Maybe… maybe not that far."

"But you don't really control who buys him, do you?"

"I… I guess I don't."

"…And you wouldn't have controlled who bought me, would you?"

"…" Sage was silent. "…Telokey… I…"

Telokey sighed. "This date was a bad idea."

"Telokey."

The bat stopped, looking at Sage. "…Yeah?"

"…Look. I'm starting to get your point. But the point I want to make is that the Ampharos was a bit of an exception. Everyone else I train eventually becomes willing. I don't do this in large numbers like others do. I try not to break up couples or any other Masters and slaves. You were an exception I didn't realize until your Master came in. And I'm still sorry for that. I just… didn't think you had one with that gear. And… I think you're a great guy. Really. I just… got carried away that day."

Telokey wasn't sure what to think. His thoughts were still pretty mixed, to be honest.

"I… I need to give this more thought." He confessed.

"…But the slave trade is perfectly legal in Kalos." Sage said.

"It is, I know." Telokey answered. "…But the circumstances aren't really clear-cut. I just… do you mind if you take me home? I'd like some more time to think about this before we go on another date."

Sage paused, taking this in. "I… I guess I can understand. I'll take you home. Promise."

* * *

…

By the time the two came back from their date (and assuming that everybody would be asleep)… a certain robotic Greninja was waiting at the front door, looking straight at the two Pokémon.

"You uhh…" Sage laughed nervously. "You must be that robot Greninja."

"L-Luther?! What are you doing up?!" Telokey asked, a bit panicked seeing him up to catch the two.

Luther chuckled dryly, glaring at the bat. "Honestly, I could ask the same thing to you. You're a very naughty Noivern, Telokey."

"You… aren't going to tell Xavier, are you?" Telokey hesitated to ask, already knowing the answer. And it was exactly what he expected.

"Telokey, let me tell you something. How do you think I'd feel if Ian was kidnapped? If I never saw him again and he just disappeared? Only for me to never find out that he was trained as a slave and sold to the black market? Where I'd never see him again? Tell me… how WOULD I feel?"

It started to hit the Noivern. "…Angry. Scared. Despair. Devastated." He answered back.

"…Now you have an idea of how Xavier felt when you didn't come back with those groceries."

"Look, I already said I was sorry." Sage sighed. "What else am I supposed to do?!"

Luther glared at Sage. Perhaps unsurprisingly, being glared at with glowing red robotic eyes was… extremely unsettling. "Sorry doesn't excuse what you did, Sage. Now… if both of you know what's good for you, you'll come inside and we are going to talk to Xavier."

Sage looked like he was going to bolt for a minute. But he looked at Telo and… he couldn't do it. "Oh, all right." Sage sighed. "I just… don't want to lose Telo. He's… he's so great. I don't want to be alone again."

"That's for Xavier to decide." The Greninja replied, going upstairs to get Xavier while Sage and Telokey remained downstairs.

* * *

…

"…What do you mean by 'don't want to be alone again'?" Telokey questioned Sage, realizing that Sage was still holding something back.

"…Hiawatha was the world to me." Sage confessed. "He was more than just my boyfriend. He was practically my soulmate. My other half. He made me feel… whole. I've been on plenty of dates, but you're the only one that's come anywhere near close to being the second half again."

Telokey blushed. "M-Me?! But it's only been one date!"

Sage sighed. "I know, I know. Maybe I'm jumping the gun. Maybe I just have attachment issues. But the way you make me feel… I want to at least give 'us' a shot."

Telokey felt like he was starting to understand. "I understand why you did what you did against that Ampharos. I understand that you loved your boyfriend. And I don't mind giving 'us' a shot. But… maybe you need to re-think how you're handling slaves after what happened with me."

"…I'm still not getting the point here. I train slaves that become willing. What's the moral problem?"

A sigh was heard from upstairs, before metallic feet clanked on the way down the stairs.

"All right…" Xavier said, coming down. "What's going on here?"

* * *

…

Xavier sighed, looking at the two. They really seemed to like each other. Despite the two going behind his back, he could understand the reasoning for that.

But angered thoughts remained in Xavier's head. What Sage seemed to be OK with doing… that had to be addressed.

"Sage, I'm certain that you know the reason why I disapproved of you in the first place." He reminded.

"I'm… aware of that." Sage chuckled sheepishly.

"…If you want to date Telokey… and for that matter, if you want to keep working for my company…"

"Is this turning into a threat?" Sage bluntly questioned.

"Sage. I'm going to ask one thing of you. You're going to stop your slave selling business if you want to continue on with my company."

Sage's eyes went wide. "B-But… why? Everyone I've sold has always been willing by the end."

"'By the end' are the key words there, Sage. They do not START willing. Quite frankly, my company can't afford to associate with a non-con slave trader. BlackShine Industries does do dealerships and business with slave industries, this is true. But all of the industries we cooperate with have WILLING slaves. Either you get with that program, or I kick you out."

Sage was… a bit nervous about all of this, gulping. He REALLY couldn't afford to lose his job with BlackShine Industries. "Uhh… umm… Telo, what do you think?"

The shiny Noivern sighed, looking at Xavier and then Sage. "Well Sage… my Master's right."

"…You serious?"

"Yes, I am. Look, you've told me your story. About the Ampharos and whatnot. And I don't blame you for that at all. But… you almost sold me. Think about it, Sage. If I had just been another slave to sell unwillingly, would we have even gotten to know each other? If my Master hadn't come in, we probably wouldn't have even had a date in the first place. And… I WANT to continue a relationship with you. I like you, even outside of the whole bondage thing. I don't want that to go away."

Sage looked forlorn, thinking about it deeply. Sure, the slaves he had at the end were always willing by the end… but as Xavier said, 'by the end' were the key words there. He hadn't sold many… but how many of them had families that still wonder where they disappeared to? How many lives had he ruined?

He thought back to some of his previous slaves he sold. There was Pablo the Prinplup, and he even got him away from an abusive boyfriend… but at the same time, it hadn't even occurred to him that maybe he had friends and family that would miss him. Friends and family that would be devastated.

Another was a Rapidash he had trained as a pony slave. He realized that it had taken almost a week to 'train' him, and he was extremely resilient until he just suddenly… stopped fighting. He started obeying. Did he… break… him?

Sage's face was soaked with tears. "Oh my god… have I really been breaking these slaves? It never occurred to me… because of Kalos' legal slave trade and all… but I ruined lives."

"…I'm afraid so, Sage. And the legal slave trade of the region is only for willing slaves. Did you… ever read the fine print?"

"…" Sage was silent for a few minutes. "…I… don't think so. I just assumed it was just slaves in general…"

Telokey hugged Sage. "But… you realize that it's wrong now… right?"

Sage managed to wipe away his tears, drying off his face. "Yes… Yes, I do. I still have no regrets about that Ampharos… but I do about everyone else… especially you, Telo."

Sage looked at Xavier. "I… Mr. Xavier… I promise. No more of this. No more unwilling slave trades. From now on… I'm going to do this legally. With willing slaves. I promise to abide by your rules."

Xavier smiled. "Thank you, Sage. I have a program within my company that you can join. It's a slave trade association, but a completely legal and willing one under Kalos law."

"You can count me in, Xavier." Sage replied, with sincerity in his voice.

"Glad to hear it, Sage." Xavier nodded. "I'll get the paperwork ready for you. In the meantime…" he smirked a bit, looking at Telokey.

"Uh, Master? Any reason why you're looking at me like that?"

"Why don't you two go down to the lab? Keep yourselves… entertained while I fix it up."

Sage had a big grin on his face. "Your stuff? Oh boy, this is going to be VERY fun. Can't wait to see your crazy devices."

With that, Sage started to drag Telokey down to the lab, eager to try out Xavier's tech on his new boyfriend for the first time.

"Uhh… let's not go too crazy, all right Sage?"

The two entered the lab, a plethora of high-tech and fascinating gear awaiting them.

"I make absolutely no promises." The Sceptile smirked.

"Oh Arceus have mercy on me."

* * *

 _Pokémon © Nintendo / Game Freak_


	7. Deepest Apologies

Deepest Apologies

* * *

It had been a long, yet very fun, night for Sage the Sceptile. He had a new boyfriend all to himself (or at least, starting to develop that relationship), his boyfriend's Master had finally expressed his approval, and Sage was going to take his slave training business in a far better direction.

As the Sceptile waved good-bye to the Noivern he became entangled with, he reflected over everything that had happened to get him to this point. Mounting his motorcycle, he thought about it.

Hiawatha's death.

Sage's total despair.

The perpetrator getting off scot-free.

Sage deciding to take matters into his own hands.

Selling the Ampharos to the black market slave trade.

Graduating from college.

Moving to Kalos.

Getting a job at BlackShine Industries.

Accidentally kidnapping his boss's slave.

A fist of steel in his mouth that seriously left a mark.

But more than anything, what Sage remembered in the most vivid detail was meeting the ghost of Hiawatha. Or… was it his angel? Sage still wasn't completely sure if it was real or if he had imagined it late into the night.

Regardless of whether it really happened, it still dawned on Sage to turn over a new leaf and make amends, resulting in him meeting Telokey at the park.

So… here he was now. Everything seemed to be tied up in his life, with no more regrets to be had…

…Until he received a text.

"Telo can't be texting me, I literally just got out of the house." Sage muttered.

'To Sage:

This has been a long time coming, but I'd like you to meet me at Café Soleil in Lumiose City to discuss things further. There's a lot I have to discuss with you. – S.'

"S?" Sage asked. "Who the hell is S?"

He tried to think. "Who do I know whose name starts with S?"

Despite his best attempts, he had a hard time thinking of anybody in particular. He looked at the text again. "A long time coming, huh? Maybe I should hear them out… whoever they are."

* * *

It wasn't too hard for Sage to find Café Soleil within Lumiose City. It was on the South Boulevard of the city, across from Professor Sycamore's Lab. It was probably among the most commonly visited cafés in Kalos, and frequently used as a meet-up point. And among all of Kalos' cafés, this one remained a favorite of guests.

The Sceptile parked his motorcycle into the parking lot. It was around evening time, so the café had plenty of guests looking for an evening drink or snack. As he walked in, looking among the many Pokémon and humans inside, it occurred to Sage that he had no idea who he was looking for.

"Ah crap. How am I supposed to find this guy?" He muttered. He looked around once more, but didn't see anybody he recognized. How did this guy know who he was?

Sage checked the time. "8:00. All right, this guy has 15 minutes to meet me before I leave." He decided, sitting down at an unoccupied table.

Sage looked through his phone. "Seriously, who the hell is S?"

"Um, excuse me?"

Sage took his eyes off his phone, looking at the speaker. Apparently, it was an Ampharos. Not only that, but he wore a collar and seemed to have a very nice demeanor as well.

"Uhh… can I help you?" the Sceptile asked, this Ampharos completely unfamiliar to him.

"Well… yes, actually. I… I was the one that sent that text." He admitted.

"OK, but… I don't think I know you." Sage confessed. The only Ampharos he really knew was the one that killed Hiawatha, but there was no way in hell this was the same guy.

"There's… no easy way to say this…" the Ampharos said, seeming to look back at someone else in the café nervously before turning around to face Sage again.

"But I'll just come out with it now. Sage… I'm Sebastian."

Sage blinked his eyes, not fully comprehending this. "This is… hold on. This doesn't make sense. This is some kind of joke. Sebastian is the name of… that… Ampharos…"

The Ampharos chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah… not many Ampharos named Sebastian, I bet. But… this is Sebastian. The one that used to watch trashy porn movies and not give a care when… he killed… a Braviary."

Sage's tone turned dark. "Why did you call me here?" he growled, his voice on the verge of screaming in anger. "Why did YOU have to come back into my life?"

"Well uhh… this is kinda hard to explain…" Sebastian sweated nervously, trying to get the words out right.

"You have 10 seconds before I just leave here."

"…I'm here to apologize and make amends." The Ampharos stated bluntly. "After you sold me off… I realized that I was in the wrong for what I did."

"Understatement of the damn century." Sage groaned. "But I can't grasp this. Still feels like part of this is a dream. Why are YOU even apologizing? Thought Sebastian didn't do that. Thought it was beneath him."

Sebastian noticeably flinched. He was struggling to find the right words when a Gallade approached the table, smiling at the both of them. "Mind if I take a seat, boys?"

"Of course, Master." Sebastian nodded.

"And you are?" Sage asked.

"Jeremy Pappaorange. Run one of these cafés myself."

Sage had to resist the urge to laugh. "Pappaorange?"

"Some of us didn't do so well at the last-name lottery when we were born." Jeremy said with a deadpan face. "But that's beside the point. In case you may have noticed… I am Sebastian's Master."

"…Wait." Sage paused. "I sold you in Hoenn. How did you get into Kalos?"

"The association he was sold into is an inter-region slave trade with slaves from all regions. Hoenn, Unova, Alola… and as you might have guessed, Kalos." Jeremy said.

"I was part of that once myself. I mainly just dealt with Kalos trades, though. Nothing inter-region. If I recall my studies on the trade, those are the only four regions where slave trading is legal." Sage answered.

"Yeah, but only if it's 100% consensual now. The association cracked down big time on that after an… incident regarding Zeke Cain… and we're getting off track again." Jeremy sighed.

"Yeah, where was this going again?" Sage said.

"The point is… Sebastian has actually changed radically since I bought him. When I bought him, he was pretty much as you remember him as. Rude, crass, vulgar, no decency, and tried to watch the trashiest porn movies if my back was turned."

"Oh, don't remind me." Sebastian groaned. "I never want to see those things again."

"Discipline was necessary, to be sure… LOTS of discipline, actually… but I ultimately instilled the morals in him that he never seemed to have at the beginning." Jeremy affirmed.

"And… well, when I actually had an understanding of morals, I felt really bad about what happened to Hiawatha. Or, more accurately, what I did to him." The Ampharos sighed.

Sage blinked. "After all of this time, you remember his name?"

"I didn't at first… but when I told Master, he wanted me to look back into. So I did. Found old newspaper articles about the accident, the obituary for him, statements from his parents, and practically a biography of background information. Could've written a report with all I found. So after all of that, the name kinda just… stayed with me. I wasn't easily going to forget it at that point." Sebastian admitted.

Sage still had a hard time accepting this. It was blowing his mind that Sebastian was here, talking to him, NOT acting like an asshole, and looked like he was just about to apologize for everything. The Sceptile didn't even figure the word 'apologize' was in the Ampharos' dictionary.

"I… don't really know what to say." Sage muttered. "This is… probably the last thing I expected to happen. I never thought I'd ever see you again… and much less so that I'd see you as a changed Pokémon."

Sebastian sighed. "Look… I know this won't make any difference. I know that no words I could say can bring Hiawatha back. And I know that I can't change what I've done. But… I'm sorry. And while expecting it is probably insane at this point… I hope that, maybe not today, but that someday… you'd be able to forgive me."

Sage was staring Sebastian straight into his eyes. Every single word the Ampharos was saying… it was totally genuine. He noticed Sebastian's eyes getting a bit glassy and the Sceptile felt his eyes do the same. He started to wipe his eyes before his tears could fully form.

"You… you've really changed, haven't you?"

"Yes." Sebastian affirmed. "Master… taught me a lot of things that I should've known. And I'm grateful for that."

Sage sighed. "Sebastian… this is difficult for me to say. Extremely difficult, in fact. And, to be honest, I can't believe I'm about to say this… but Sebastian… I do forgive you."

Sebastian was dead silent for a few moments before speaking. "I… I didn't actually expect that. That was more of a pitiful hope than anything."

"…Let's just say, I've learned a lot myself since we last met."

Sebastian simply smiled at that.

"Although… this has occurred to me." Sage muttered. "…What are you going to do about your parents? Everyone believed the story that you killed yourself. Are you… going to go back to Hoenn?"

Sebastian shook his head. "I'm never going back to Hoenn. As far as my parents know, the Sebastian they knew IS dead."

"…I'm sure your Master would allow you to take a trip back to visit them. Don't your parents care about you?" Sage asked.

"…Master taught me more in a few years than my parents ever gave to me. My parents were part of the reason I was that disgusted perverted Ampharos you once knew. They were the kind of parents that only worked and saw their kid as a footnote. They didn't care about me. They didn't teach me anything. Hell, I was actually a carbon-copy of my own father after work."

"…If I may say something." Jeremy interrupted. "After I rightfully educated him in proper virtues, I was going to take him by his parents for a visit and give them an update… turns out that they sold everything belonging to Sebastian and used it to buy a vacation house in Alola."

Sebastian huffed. "They're happier without me, and I'm happier without them. Seems like an easy answer."

Sage didn't have the easiest time rationalizing that, considering his much more loving relationship with his parents. But even fellow students he knew in high school had crappy parents. Sebastian's parents just seemed to be extra crappy.

"…Are you happy with your Master?" Sage asked.

"Honestly… you probably did me a favor, Sage. Granted, what you did was still wrong, technically speaking, but… I did turn out better for it. And I'm much happier with my Master than I ever would've been with my parents. Master is… he's like a real father to me."

Jeremy smiled. "I hope we answered any questions you had."

Sage thought about it for a bit. "…Could I get your contact info, Jeremy? You seem like a decent guy to keep in touch with, being able to… make Sebastian of all Pokémon a better 'Mon."

Jeremy Pappaorange smiled, handing Sage his café's business card, with his café's number and cell number on it. "I had a feeling you'd ask that."

Sage took the card, pocketing it. "Thank you. Still not going to get over that last name. Pappaorange."

Jeremy sighed. "45 years, and I still haven't lived this name down."

Sage started to stand up, ready to leave. "Never considered a legal name change?"

Jeremy smiled again. "Can't. Have this silly little attachment to it. It's kinda who I am. As silly as it is… I'm pretty proud to do the family name justice."

Sage smiled, heading out the café. "For what it's worth, you're the best Pappaorange I know!"

Something told Sage that this wouldn't be the last time he saw the two of them.

* * *

 _Pokémon © Nintendo / Game Freak_

Surprise! It's YET ANOTHER SAGE STORY, but I couldn't resist the idea for this one. A comment on one of my previous submissions got me thinking about this idea, and I couldn't pass it up. Don't worry, though. I should be done with Sage for a while.

Read and review/comment!


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